For most people, racquetball is a way to relax, to exercise or even a way to meet others. For Jeremy Haines, a junior in political science, racquetball is much more. Haines, who is the president and captain of the club racquetball team, has been around the game his whole life.

Since he has been at N.C. State, he has begun to play competitively, joining the North Carolina Racquetball Association and playing in national tournaments. According to Haines, even his social life revolves around the sport.

“All my friends are racquetball players,” Haines said. “Except for the few [friends] I have here at N.C. State, most of my friends and the people I associate with are racquetball players.”

Haines first joined the racquetball club as a freshman. The club began falling apart in the spring of 2006 and finally lost its affiliation with campus recreation in the fall of that year. Last fall, Haines and others decided they would revive the club.

Haines said N.C. State has the potential to have a top notch club racquetball team. Carmichael Complex, with its 18 racquetball courts, has the largest racquetball facilities Haines has ever seen.

“The most I’ve ever heard of that a school has had, outside of N.C. State, is Arizona State, and they have 14 [courts],” Haines said. “They were the site of the U.S. Collegiate tournament for many years. They’ve hosted various national championship tournaments in the past.”

Just weeks ago, the director of the collegiate committee for the United States Racquetball Association approached Carmichael Complex about hosting the 2009 collegiate championships. The Carmichael administrators denied the Association’s request, however.

The club was disappointed with the decision. Haines said the University is worried that hosting such a tournament would put a strain on the facilities resources.

“I believe that’s the one thing that’s holding the University back,” Haines said. “They are afraid of the burden that’s going to be placed on the University by holding a tournament.”

Dawn Sanner, the director of facilities and operations for Carmichael Complex, said they denied the request to host the collegiate championships because it would be impossible to hold such an event given Carmichael’s limited space. Because the gym has 18 courts, it was not the first time the USRA has wanted to hold the event at N.C. State. However, she said the gymnasium could not provide the seating for the 300 people which would be required for the event.

“There is no seating, no hospitality [room] and no concessions,” Sanner said. “If you go down there, there [are] hallways, and that is about it. This is not a competition venue. It wasn’t designed for competitions.”

Haines said missing out on hosting the championships means he missed his last chance to compete for the collegiate championship.

“I’ve always wanted to play in the collegiate tournament,” Haines said. “But now that we’re not going to play here at N.C. State, I doubt we’ll be able to go next year because of financing. It’s going to take [a lot] of fundraising on our part to be able to raise the finances to be able to take a full team to [the collegiate championships] next year. This was our one shot, and now I doubt that we’ll be going.”

Although they missed the opportunity, the club looks forward to next year. The team is coached by Ed Remen, who is a lecturer for the Physical Education Department as well as an executive board member for the USRA. They are planning to compete in some regional tournaments as well as hold some events on campus to raise awareness for the sport.

A visit from N.C. State alumnus Mitch Williams, who is currently ranked sixth on the International Racquetball tour, will highlight next year’s activities. He will give a free clinic to anyone on campus that wants to learn the game from a professional. Haines said N.C. State has a reputation in racquetball circles because of Williams.

“Basically through him, people have found out about the school,” Haines said. “It’s been a thing I’ve been asked about at tournaments.”

The club meets at 7 p.m. on Wednesday nights at Carmichael’s racquetball courts. Matt Brewer, the club treasurer and a sophomore in mechanical engineering, said the club is a good way for recreational racquetball players to take the game more seriously.

“I go to the gym and I see a lot of people there already playing racquetball,” Brewer said. “If they’re looking for something more, the racquetball club is a great place to start.”