How it all began

I received this email from Dave Negrete, the IRT commissioner in January 2006:

I am extending an invitation for you to play on the US Team in Guatemala April 8-15. You are the next highest ranked IRT player on the rankings sheet. No one above your ranking has accepted the offer. You would have to pay your own expenses …

As a junior player at the US Junior team camp, I was asked to write down goals that I would like to achieve over the next 5 years. One of those goals included making the team, and playing in the Pan-Am championships in 2000. Going off to college, being introduced to liquor, women, and partying seemed counter intuitive to this goal, so it went unaccomplished.

I never thought that I would have the opportunity again, and yet here it stood. I wrote back with a “sounds like fun to me”, and my journey to play on the US Team in Guatemala began.

Making a decision

Talks with Dave Ellis, the head coach of the team going down, began. My concern was first to my family. The biggest change in my life since my high school years is that I met my soul mate, and produced two kids that I can’t wait to see each day. This brought up a conundrum, if I went to represent my country, I’d be leaving those that I loved for almost 11 days.

Dave and I talked about it and decided it wasn’t feasible to have them come along. I didn’t have the funds to support it, and having them down there could potentially inconvenience both the team and us. I decided to talk with Jackie that night, but I would have a decision by tomorrow morning.

I called up Dave the next morning and told him reluctantly that I’d love to go, but I have to think about my family – I just can’t leave them for that amount of time. The decision now made, it began to eat at me. I started to think about the goals that I had set so many years before. I thought about the US Junior Teams that I had been on before in my life, winning gold medals, winning team championships, and representing my country with pride.

Jackie noticed my mood, and she said, “You know, we could do it. It’s 10 days, but that’s not so bad. I could stay with your parents so they could help with the kids, and we’d make it fine. Bottom line: Don’t let us being alone influence your decision. If you really want to go, GO!”

I could never explain the depth of love that I have for Jackie. She’s my rock, and makes a great enchilada. There are times that I go to work, and we miss each other badly. It’s pretty sappy I know, but just the way it is with us. I thought over what Jackie had just said, and finally agreed. We could do it for 10 days. It’d be hard, but not impossible. I put it in perspective; a lot of soldiers in our country’s military have to leave their families for months or even years at a time. They also don’t have a choice a lot of the time on when they have to leave. They also risk their lives, but they’re fighting for our country.
Our 10 days seemed pretty simple to do after thinking about it. I called Dave back up and said, “I’m in. Let’s go kick some ass for the US.”

Leaving to Guatemala

We both knew it was coming. The day to leave was looming, and Jackie and I were getting sad. I was leaving at 1AM. Each evening a cloud of gloom would surround us, because we knew in a few days we wouldn’t be together.

The day came, and we went off to the airport. We did great on the drive. No crying, no talking about the length, but we did talk about our soldiers again. We contrasted my trip to theirs.

“We have it easy”

“10 days is such a short time”

“No one will be shooting at me”

We got to the airport and finally the fireworks started. Jackie cried and I was bawling like a little baby. The kids were sleeping in the car. I opened the car door to give them a kiss. My 1 year old daughter yelled at me, the loud planes were waking her up and she wanted to go to sleep. I gave her a quick kiss and closed the door.

I hugged Jackie one last time, gave her a kiss and cried my way to the ticket counter. I was on my way.

Pre Tourney

I arrived at 8AM the next morning. The rest of the team got in later that day, so I went out to Antigua to get in some culture time. I wanted to get some authentic local food, so I stopped at a local restaurant and got some tacos. I put some blazing cheese hot sauce on the tacos and threw it down the pie-hole.

The next day my stomach started to hurt. Took in some Pepto and went along my merry way. We had practice the next two days. I would be playing doubles at the event with Woody Clouse, but he was also playing in the singles event. I played some doubles games with Woody, some games against the girls, and got a good feel for the courts. The courts were damn fast, so it was a bit of a change from the slower sea level courts I play at in my hometown. The other teams had practice times, so we had our scheduled time and then we left. Woody and I tried to switch up the sides that we played. Woody is left-handed, so it would make sense for him to play the left side. I’m a left side player, so I felt more comfortable on that side. We decided to play it by ear. If we needed to switch it up, we would.

The Beginning Rounds

Nothing could have prepared Woody and me for crowd in the first match against the home team, Guatemala. I started it out the left side, so we were both playing our backhands. We played fine, winning the first game 15-10. We had a few hiccups, but never felt out of control of the game, and things were going well. The crowd was super pumped up, screaming out Guat-E-mal-AH, each time there was a break in the match. It felt like we were at a soccer or football match, not a racquetball game. It was intense. Our opponents took that energy and started to hit amazing shots in game 2. Each point that we score they would also take a point for their team. It came down to 14-14. They were serving, after a half-out avoidable call. Woody came up on the lob serve and framed the shot…it rolled out! Taking advantage of our luck, we scored the final point and ended the match.

We got a bunch of handshakes and “great games” from the people in the stands. We were just glad to have taken it in 2 games. We talked about it, and decided that we had “balls of steel”. Our steel balls would be tested before this tournament was finished.

The next game against Argentina was quicker. No huge crowd this time, and we finished off the match in two games. We both were starting to get each other’s style and it was getting easier to play together.

The Tournament Begins

I had two days off before the tournament began. The extra day was due to the fact that Woody and I were the top ranked team, and got a bye into the next round. We had to play either Guatemala or Venezuela. Sure enough, our first match ended up being a rematch. We were going to play Guatemala. This time though we had more strategy to go with. We decided to play on our forehand sides, and it paid off. While the first game was a rocky 15-10, we fell into a groove and won the next 15-1. The crowd came in again in the second game, but Woody and I felt great about keeping their cheering to a minimum.

Chile came the next day ready to play. I was feeling pretty horrible after being on the toilet 9 times earlier that day. We started playing forehands, but decided to switch to backhands after I felt sluggish and out of place. Switching worked effectively; we put both games away and went to the finals.

I was expecting to meet Canada in the finals. They had a tough close match in the quarters against Bolivia, but squeaked it out 11-9 in the breaker. The semis saw Mexico beating Canada in 2 games, which surprised me, but let me know that these guys meant business and were a damn good team. We’d be ready tomorrow.

The Final day of competition

Out of the 4 final matches that day, ours was the last. Chris Odegard, having beat John Ellis the prior day, went up against Woody. He looked sharp. Woody was also looking great, he won the first, and then had 5 potential match points to win the whole thing. Chris wouldn’t be denied though; he won it 15-14 along with the tiebreaker by shooting incredible backhand splats and great passes. A disappointed Woody entered the court with me later that day to take on Mexico.

I had noticed that Mexico loved to hit the ball hard. Watching Canada and them play the day earlier, I noticed how many setups were being unsuccessfully being taken advantage of. I knew that if I could move my feet, plant them in the correct spot, bend my knees and take the shot, I’d have a good day.

Since I was a bit sick with the stomach junk still, I decided to wait till the last minute to make my trek to the club that day. I wanted to be as well rested as I could be. Earlier that morning, while talking with Woody, I told him, “I’m going to be ready to play. I’m going to be even diving all over that court!”

Even with the rested body, and my mental energy to play I still felt tired. I sat down on the shuttle to the club and realized how lethargic I felt. The shuttle began and I began to think of home, about Jackie and how she packed t-shirts for me. I reached into my bag and felt something.

It wasn’t a t-shirt. I brought it out. I was the American flag that I had packed for the trip. The flag was given to me by Will Smith. Will was an acquaintance of mine that was in the military who I had given some mouse pads and t-shirts to years ago. He said that he would one day return the favor with a flag. The flag that he had finally given to me this year had flown high in over 7 tours. These included such spots such as the hurricane areas in New Orleans, the Tsunami areas of 2005, Iraq, Afghanistan and others. Now the flag traveled with me to Guatemala and to the club that day.

Sounds cheesy but it gave me strength. I thought again of our soldiers, my home, my family, and how great it would be to tell my wife that we had won. I wanted to win this match so very badly. I entered the club anew. I was ready to kick some ass.

Starting it off

The women’s match ahead of me was going great. After a small snafu in the first, Aimee Ruiz (nicknamed “Beans”) and Jackie Rice (nicknamed “Rice”) entered the zone they had established earlier in the tournament in the second game. I left at the beginning of the second to game to relax a bit, focus, and stretch. I called over to Gary Mazaroff, coincidently the person that married Jackie and I, “what’s the score?” Gary yelled over 11-1. I realized that I only had a few minutes, “Holy crap, time to get my warm-up in high-gear!”

I got a few early shots on the court adjoining the Women’s final before we were officially called to the court. After a warm-up, we got a ref, two line judges and I was in the box to serve.

Things weren’t going so well in the first. I felt pretty solid but we were down 10-4 and Woody leaned over to me, “I don’t feel so good. I think I might fall over. I think I need to sit down.”

“Timeout!”

We got off the court and I coached Woody, “Breath, relax. Deep breaths, get some air in!” John suggested, “Let’s switch it up. Woods you take the left side. Get comfortable and take it one point at a time.” After a minute, we entered the court. I was worried. Woody hadn’t been moving very well, and it showed. I didn’t want to say anything but he looked off. I mean, the dude usually rolls balls and right now he was hitting 10 feet high or skipping the ball.

Something flipped for Woody. He started to play above normal. It was nuts. He looked so relaxed and he just started to roll balls out. Every setup was taken advantage of. We started to gain ground quickly. Our opponents were playing tough though. They scored a few more points, but we rallied and ended up being at 14-14, with us serving on a half-out.

The crowd was going crazy. USA brought out their cheering voices. The court and stadium were reverberating with whistles and chants of U-S-A and Mex-E-co. We served the ball and a setup came to my forehand. All week I loved to be the one with the setup shot to win the final point in a game. All prior games it was great to roll the ball flat and exit the court with a game win. Today though, I went for the forehand splat and it skipped almost into the short line. Whoops! Mexico quickly got into the box, and won the point. The first game went to them.

How it all ended

We still had a ton of momentum from the first game going into the second game. We opened the second game with an early 8-0 lead. Mexico finally took a timeout and regrouped. Their coaches must have said something as they came back in and quickly tied it all up 8-8. We finally surged ahead 12-8 and then it was a battle for points. We would score a point and they would return with a point of their own. Equaling points wasn’t going to work for Mexico as we came out on top 15-11 to finish the second game. It was going to a tie-breaker.

Back in the court we again earned an early lead. Mexico kept in very tight. Both Woody and I found that our Z-lobs were having a good effect with us getting skips, setups, or defensive shots that would get us into a rally. We got to 10 points first. Mexico started serving blistering wrap around serves. Woody was getting the ball to the ceiling but they kept chipping away points by further angling the ball over to my side. We got the serve back but Mexico played tough and got it right back and called a timeout at 8-10.

The crowd was going crazy. Our small contingent of pro-USA people was in the lower right of the stands. I motioned out to Woody, “Isn’t this crazy, we only have this little small portion, but man are they cheering loud. Did someone give them something today?” I loved the fact that they were cheering so loud. I needed it for what was going to come.

Mexico’s coach I knew was asking his players to get that wrap around to come to me. They didn’t want Woody to cut it off to the ceiling. They wanted it deep and angled so it’d be a tight wrap, almost a Z-serve but angled to the back wall.

We got on the court and Woods rolled the first serve. We now had them serving with a half-out under our belts. I knew the serve was coming. John told me during the time-out “be ready”. I was. The ball came at me, I smacked it, and it went – directly into the floor. The crowd got really loud. Mex-E-CO, Mex-E-CO, whistles, and screams.

“9-10”

The next serve came. Do you remember how I’m not a right side player? It showed. I looked like a puppet swinging at a fly. Whoosh…ace serve?!

“10-10”

The crowd went ballistic. MEX-E-CO got louder. UNO, UNO, UNO others chanted. Shrill whistling intensified. In less than 1 minute I had just tied up the game and given our opponents a match point.

We took a timeout. I just kept thinking, go to the ceiling and then get your shot and put it away. Back on the court, the serve came again. I managed to get it to the ceiling. A good ceiling ball in fact! It was returned with another ceiling ball. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why Woody is a great doubles player. He flat rolled it. We got our serve back.

The USA corner went into a frenzy. It was our turn. U-S-A turned into UNO, UNO, UNO. I went to Woody and said, “We’re getting this next point.”

“Let’s do it”

I served the ball and it went to the ceiling. Woody shot it down the line, but it was a setup for the opposing team. They hit what looked like a reverse pinch winner, the Mexico crowd went crazy…

All week I hadn’t dove. Something in my body at that moment though said, “You can get that. Get your big lanky body moving and fly baby!” I dove, saw the ball clearly, my racquet extending to hit a deep defensive shot and got the ball.

The other team looked surprised. The crowd quickly quieted down. “Shh, shh!” The crowed whispered. I rolled to my back and sat up. The ball was going to the back left corner. I got up, and the ball went cross court, then down the line. Mexico’s players dove…skipped it and we got the point. Woody and I looked at each other in disbelief. We had just WON!!

We ran screaming to each other, and started hugging and jumping like kids on a playground. I couldn’t believe it, the crowd couldn’t believe it. We had won! I looked over at the crowd and raised my fist, “WHOOOOO YAAA”. We freaking did it. Mexico’s players were taking off their racquets and throwing them in defeat. We eventually calmed down enough to shake hands and exit the court.

USA got into a tight circle as the excitement was still high. We started to chant, slowly at first: “U…S…A. U…S…A. U-S-A. USA, USA”. In fact as the stands filtered out the only thing you could hear echoing in the clubs halls was the “USA” chant coming from our team. It was a fantastic end to a long week of competing. We had won!

Aftermath

Right after our match we started to head towards the closing ceremonies. I again thought about how great it would have been if Jackie had been there. I was so proud of what we had just accomplished. It got to be too much after I had gotten upstairs. I didn’t want to bring the mood down, so I went over to the swimming pool area and cried. I got it out of my system and went to have a beer.

We relaxed and drank some beers that night. We won the Men’s, Women’s, and Overall at the event. You couldn’t ask for a better showing. The team got together in Dave’s room to drink some more booze and tell stories of the tournament, of each other, and teams in the past. The team had also voted to allow Woody, Aimee and I to keep one of the three team trophies. We later danced the night away with other players from the tournament and said out goodbyes.

I eventually went to bed and awoke with no one around. The rest of the team had an early flight so some planned on not going to bed. Sure enough, I had missed their exit from Guatemala. It wasn’t a big deal though. The great thing about racquetball is the players within are all one big family, I’d see them all again soon enough.

The day was long and I couldn’t wait to get back home. I milled around the hotel, bought some stuff at a local shop and eventually made my way onto the airport and back home. Finally arriving at the airport at 1AM the next morning, I got to hug my wife, tell her I loved and missed her, and that I had a gold medal and a big trophy in my bag.