Program History

Started in 1980, St. Louis U. High Racquetball has found unparalleled success in its relatively short existence. That success can be attributed to many passionate and dedicated players throughout the years, as well as one man who was the heart of SLUH Racquetball: Dr. Joseph "Doc" Koestner, head coach of SLUH Racquetball for over 30 years.

Doc took over as head coach in 1985, having played racquetball before but no experience coaching others in the sports. Reading up on different coaching tactics, he implemented a style of play called "Percentage Racquetball" that is still used in the program today. The more engrained into the tradition Percentage Racquetball became, the more success the teams found and in 1995, SLUH won its first State Championship. That success continued to grow and in 1998 SLUH was crowned National Champions.

Percentage Racquetball proved to be the key that helped SLUH keep on winning and eventually other schools began looking at this program as the model of quality racquetball . In 2011, the program entered it's most successful period, starting a streak of twelve consecutive national titles that still continues today. In total, SLUH Racquetball currently holds 22 State Titles and 16 National Titles, deeming it not only the most successful high school racquetball team in history but also the winningest sports team in SLUH history.

Currently, the team is run by Program Director Stephen Deves and Varsity Coach Robert Hoffman.