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Show Local racquetball player wins world championship f m- m mm- By RACHEL C. MUKDOCK Tri-Cities Athletic Club is pretty excited about one of their newest members -- 11-year-old Eric Storey. Normally a barely-11-year-old boy wouldn't cause too much of a stir, but this boy happens to be a world-class racquetball player who has been competing in tournaments tourna-ments since the young age of seven. "My dad started playing when I was four or five and started taking me down with him," said Storey. "Instead of going to the nursery, they gave me a racquet and I would go on a back court where no one would bother me and just hit balls." His latest medals were won at the Junior World Championships in Miami, Fla. Storey took first place in the singles 10 and under, and, along with doubles partner Andy Thompson Th-ompson of Wisconsin, won first in the 12 and under doubles. For Storey and Thompson, the world medal was a repeat of the American Amateur Racquetball Association first place medal which they won at their Junior National Championships in Colorado. At that same tournament, Storey won second in the 10 and under singles. Head Racquet Sports has sponsored spon-sored Storey for over a year, providing provid-ing him with racquets, shoes, shorts, gloves and shirts. "I am one of theyoungest, and I think I'm the youngest person they sponsor," he said. Storey plays racquetball, "mostly because it's fun," he said, "I do like the competitions and trying Eric Storey Storey trains mostly with his father, although he has also received re-ceived some instruction from Sylvia Sawyer, coach of the BYU racquetball team. Baseball, football, and basketball basket-ball also interest Storey, but with the two to three hours he spends each day with racquetball, and keeping his grades up so he can be sponsored, there isn't time for him to play these sports in organized leagues. "I just play them for fun," he said. The Storey family, dad Tim, mom Karen, Eric and Renae, recently re-cently moved to Utah from Indiana. Tim is now the area Manager of the foundry at Geneva Steel. a fun sport and you can play it any time of the year," he said. The Olympics are the eventual dream for the self-assured Storey. "I want to compete in the Olympics and hopefully win some medals there," he said. Racquetball will be an exhibi- . tionsportin 1992andamedalsport in 1996 at the Olympics, said Storey, who will be 18 in 1996. Although he enjoys playing racquetball, rac-quetball, the fifth-grader at Provo's Grandview Elementary doesn't like one thing about the game -- the necessary but dull drills. "Thehardestthingisto goinand hit shot after shot over and over again," he said. |
