Every sport has its athletes that are widely renowned for their level of ability. Basketball has Michael Jordan, golf has Tiger Woods, and hockey has Wayne Gretzky, just to name a few. But what about racquetball? Most people don't even know what racquetball is, let alone an athlete that excels at the sport. However, in the racquetball community, the name Sudsy Monchik is synonymous with skill.
Sudsy Monchik was born on October 12, 1974, in Staten Island, New York to Allen and Debbie Monchik. In 1982, Sudsy first began to play racquetball, and shortly after that he was taught and coached in the sport by one Ruben Gonzalez. Sudsy attended high school at Tottenville High School, and graduated in 1992. As a junior in high school, Sudsy won his first International Racquetball Federation World Junior Championship. He proceeded to win that Championship the following two years.
After high school and the Junior World Championships, Sudsy moved on to win the U.S. Open four times, in 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002, and was considered the #1 ranked racquetball player in the world five times. Currently Sudsy's ranking is within the top twenty in the world.
Currently, you can keep up to date with Sudsy through his site: www.sudsyrules.com. There you can check out pictures of his family, or even order some footage of his racquetball techniques, to potentially improve your game.
Here are some fun (and somewhat creepy) facts about Sudsy Monchik that I gathered from various sources:
- Height: 5'10"
- Favored playing hand: right
- Weight: 180 lbs
- Preferred goggles: Head RB Eyewear - Pro Elite
- Preferred racquet: Head Mega Blast 175 RB Racquet
- Preferred glove: Head Mega Blast RB Glove
- Spouse: Lisa Monchik - married July 10, 1999
- Siblings: 3 (one brother and two sisters)
- Favorite film: Braveheart
- Favorite food: Chilean Sea Bass
- Other hobbies: Basketball, Tennis, Reading, Travel, Mountain Biking and Listening to Music
- Motto: Play hard and have fun.
Sources:
http://www.sudsyrules.com
http://www.head.com/racquetball