Name: Wayne Storch Swings: Left Handed Racquet: Ektelon o3 White Home Town: Kendall Park, NJ Home Club: NYSC - Brooklyn Sponsors: Team Ektelon (coming '08/'09)

2007-2008 NJAR Season Accomplishments
Wayne came into this season fresh out of winning his way out of the B's and into the A's.  He then went on to the 2007 Monster Bash at Classic Athletic Club in October, and won the A division, a very difficult round robin of 6 players, including top area A players Pete Holden, Jon Panno, and John Patric.

How long have you been playing racquetball?
Wayne has been playing racquetball for three years, now, but previously was a paddleball player for 20+ years.  Since picking up racquetball, however, Wayne has not been playing any more paddleball.

How many times a week do you play?
Roughly 4x per week, between his own club in Brooklyn, as well as traveling to Woodbridge on the weekends to play with some different competition.

Why do you like playing racquetball?
Many of the reasons why Wayne enjoys racquetball so much are the differences it offers him as compared to paddleball.  Racquetball is more competitive, has a much more organized tournament structure, and has a much higher quality of players.  Wayne enjoys going to new clubs, making friends and contacts through the sport of racquetball, and feeling the comradery that racquetball offers.  One interesting note that Wayne mentioned was that racquetball, as compared to paddleball, is much more of a "thinking man's game."  There is much more strategy involved, with more diverse shot selections and game styles, which creates more of a challenge to the player.

What is something we probably don't know about you?
Wayne has a fully restored, award winning, 1978 El Camino that he did all the work on, and has shown in competitions throughout New York and New Jersey.

Biggest win or best match played in racquetball?
Wayne's biggest win came in the 2008 Gladiator Games in Hillsborough, NJ, when he beat Jonathan Clay in the Open Singles finals.

Best match ever watched?
Wayne mentioned that the best match he ever watched was a match that he reffed at the 2007 NJO, in Woodbridge, NJ.  It was the A singles semifinal match, between Kimon Ousouljoglou and Tony Hernandez.  This match went to an 11-10 tie-breaker, and Wayne mentioned that he almost got lost in reffing the match because he was enjoying it so much, as was the growing crowd that formed to watch the match as the tiebreaker went on.

Best Tournament Memory?
Pushing Dave Barnes to a tie breaker in the open division at the Long Island Open.

Who is your favorite player?
Mitch Williams and Rocky Carson

What is your goal for the 2008-2009 Season?
Continue to build more relationships within the NJ tournament scene and meet new people.  Wayne would also like to win out of the A division, and start to break into the opens.

If you could change one thing about the sport what would it be?
Continue to promote more women in the sport, and grow the number of female entrants in tournaments.

What is your favorite part of the NJAR tournaments?
Food, organization, hospitality, people

Closing remarks?
Wayne is extremely happy with the direction racquetball is going to NJ, with continued tournaments, shootouts, and other types of progamming.  Wayne is looking forward to the NJAR Mixers being held at clubs across the state, and overall, Wayne is just "happy to be part of the NJ racquetball family."

 

If you know someone who you think would be a great person for the NJAR to "spotlight" please let us know.