It’s a whole new racquet
BROOKSVILLE –
It was the rage of the late-1970s and 1980s. Every city with a population of 30,000 or more, it seemed, had at least one health club with indoor racquetball courts. The more upscale versions had juice bars.
Then, as ’80s pop icons George Michael and Debbie Gibson faded into oblivion, the racquetball courts closed up as fast as they opened. The sport died for a lack of enthusiasts. Or so it seemed.
But to the cadre of dedicated players who took up the sport during its glory days, racquetball never disappeared – it just went underground for a couple decades. And now it’s making a comeback while attracting a legion of new players.
Clarence Aviles, 58, of Brooksville, is a longtime player who began playing on a Navy base in 1977, right at the genesis of the sport’s popularity explosion.
“It wasn’t really popular then,” he recalled of his earliest days playing the sport. “I saw people on the courts and started to get into the game.”
Then in the 1980s, “everything went crazy,” according to Bob Galvin, 74.
Aviles and Galvin play three mornings a week with about 10 other players at the two outdoor courts in Tom Varn Park.
The ages of the dozen or so players range from 25 to 74. The group is not officially organized, but they have been getting together at the city courts since 1995 or ’96.
They usually can be found on the courts, in a peculiar-looking green structure south of the softball fields, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 to 11:30 a.m.
Kimberly McFadden, 25, is consistently the youngest player.
She first got interested through her former boyfriend, who played with his father.
“It looked like a lot of fun,” she said. “And it takes a measure of concentration.”
Harry Hiscock, 73, Brooksville, started playing in 1991.
“I had a heart operation and needed to do exercises,” said Hiscock, who owned a company that printed circuit boards in Massachusetts. “I started lifting weights and saw racquetball at a club in New Hampshire.”
He said the excitement of racquetball kept his interest more than lifting weights or other forms of exercise.
“It’s a good, aggressive sport and it’s good for your reflexes,” he said.
Galvin, a trim and fit senior, was a handball player in his youth. He is nicknamed the “Bionic Man” by his racquetball pals because of all the metal in his body after several surgeries, including hip replacements.
Tired of whacking the ball with his hands, Galvin took up racquetball in the 1960s. His first wooden Wilson racquet cost $9.98. Now, he said, high-end racquets can cost $300 or more.
But you don’t have to spend the better part of a paycheck to get started in the sport.
A decent racquet can be had at Walmart for 20 bucks and a can of three balls costs less than a five spot.
Racquetball was invented a little more than 60 years ago by tennis pro Joseph G. Sobek, who wanted to make handball less hard on his hands. He and a partner began playing the sport with paddles, and in 1949, Sobek invented a game called “paddle racquets.” The game, which eventually was called racquetball, combined the rules of squash and handball.
Randy Forrest is the president of the Florida Racquetball Association and has been playing for 25 years.
He said the sport is “making a comeback from the 1970s and 1980s,” and the association now has between 700 to 750 members.
A lot of big gyms like LA Fitness are adding indoor courts and more outdoor courts are popping up, according to Forrest.
And it’s getting huge overseas, too.
“The USA Racquetball Association has promoted the sport worldwide and it’s making a huge comeback in Venezula, Colombia and Mexico,” he said. “And it’s big in Japan.”
As a form of exercise, it’s one of the best, he said.
“Overall it burns 600 calories an hour, so it’s almost as good as running,” he said.
But before you start playing, keep in mind it is as aggressive, fast-paced sport, and you can get hurt or bang up your knees.
Forrest has had a reconstructive knee surgery.
So if it hurts sometimes, why play?
“It’s fun, that’s why people play it,” Forrest said. ” I’ve got friends all over the U.S. that are racquetball players.”
For more information about racquetball, visit or call Forrest at 321-299-2699. Community news editor Timothy P. Howsare can be reached at 352-544-5284 or [email protected].
