Mia Risch, senior at Kirkwood High School, reaches as far as she can to hit the ball as she dives for the game point. She hits it by an inch, winning the game, going 3-0 for her tournament.
Risch is one of the four captains of the KHS racquetball team. She started as a sophomore, and was on varsity all three years of her career.
“My favorite part [is] since [racquetball] is such a big program, getting that recognition that the coaches believe in me to be able to lead such a large group.” Risch said. “[Also] being able to have people trust me to help and give advice.”
Risch said she enjoys working with the other racquetball captains because she can learn from them and improve her skills. Katie Whittaker, senior, is the other captain on the girls team.
“[Mia] is a great leader and she’s also a great player,” Whittaker said. “She’s always there to play and put her effort in. [Racquetball] is a lot less competitive and it’s up to you how much work you want to put into it. If you put a lot of work into it, you’re going to be good, if you don’t, you’re not going to be great but it [will] still be fun.”
Daniel Witt, has been head racquetball coach for KHS for six years. He describes the process of choosing the captains as unique from other sports.
“We’ve talked about doing applications, we’ve talked about doing team votes but ultimately we feel it should be the coaches’ decision,” Witt said. “We don’t want it to be a popularity vote because sometimes the quiet leader doesn’t get the respect they deserve.”
I’ve met a lot of my closest friends through racquetball.
— Mia Risch
Racquetball has grown in popularity over the past few years at KHS. In 2018, there were 16 returning players, and now there are 160 players, and two back to back state championship victories.
“[Racquetball is good for people] looking for something extra to do in middle school or high school,” Witt said. “[Or if] they’re looking for a place where they can be a part of a team and have equal playing time and an environment where they’re cared about, they should know where to find us.”
