No one said it was going to be easy.
Racquetball Club coordinator Alexis Karlson-Martini took on the daunting task of redeveloping a Club that has faltered in past years. After being introduced to the sport only three years ago, Karlson-Martini made a promise to herself that she would find a way to make the Club work, even after finding out that it had struggled to keep afloat in years past.
“This Club is a different racquetball Club than we have had in years,” Club sports coordinator Sandy Vaughn said. “Before, the Club coordinators have been more focused on their own play, rather than creating a true team. Alexis had the goal of bringing in students who were interested in the sport and who had a wide range of abilities.”
For Portland native Karlson-Martini, getting the Club back on its feet would require individuals who were more focused on the team’s objective than personal achievements. She first had to recruit players who would be interested in being a part of a Club that was starting completely from scratch and who wanted to take on the responsibilities that come with being a part of a team.
Junior Karlson-Martini said that the individualized nature of racquetball presented the biggest challenge to carrying out her duty as Club coordinator.
“The first three months were really tough,” she said. “The team had to realize that they had to show up on time, they had to come to practice because when you are on a team, those things affect other people.”
Aside from organizing transportation, sponsorships and figuring out team expenses, Karlson-Martini, a German major, has had to deal with some internal conflicts within the team as well.
“I have had to deal with some problems from a few teammates,” Karlson-Martini said. “If someone takes things the wrong way or if they don’t like how I’ve done things, they will let me know. I have had to learn how to be tactful and how to respond to these things.”
Senior team member Dan Goettsch said Karlson-Martini “took on a little too much” and in turn found that practice time needed to be more productive.
“Sometimes our time was not used efficiently,” Goettsch said. “We wasted time going over things we already went over.”
When Karlson-Martini needed guidance and advice on how to deal with these types of situations, she turned to her boyfriend and racquetball teammate Andrew Milkes. Milkes and Karlson-Martini have been dating for three years. He has seen the emotional highs and lows that come with being a leader, and said Karlson-Martini has juggled her responsibilities remarkably well.
“I’ve seen her deal with the Club’s problems as well as their successes and I think she is personally responsible for growing the sport of racquetball within the state of Oregon,” he said.
Karlson-Martini will be passing the reins of racquetball coordinator to someone else next year, and she will try to give the future coordinator as much information as possible about what she has learned. Karlson-Martini said she feels the hard part is over, and that keeping the Club afloat should be the easy part as long as there is continued interest in the sport and the team has committed members.
For now, Karlson-Martini can only hope that the Club “is still existing” in a few years. Taking pride in what she has done for the sport and for the Club is what Karlson-Martini would like to take away from this experience.
“I have really enjoyed having all the responsibilities put on me and being able to do things for the Club,” Karlson-Martini said. “I really like helping people and getting things done.”
Karlson-Martini is thankful the Club had the chance to attend both local and National tournaments as a team. The team even placed 12th at the 32nd National USA Racquetball Intercollegiate Championships in Fountain Valley, Calif., held March 24-28.
With half of the Club’s members being freshmen, Vaughn said that Karlson-Martini has laid out solid guidelines for next year’s team and the future coordinator to follow.
“She is incredibly enthusiastic, organized and she knew how to pull together community resources and how to supplement what the University could provide.”