What began as a simple announcement over the loud speakers at St. Louis University High School in 1985, when the racquetball program needed a coach, became a success story that’s almost too hard to believe.
Even Joe “Doc” Koestner, the coach himself, gets a kick out of retracing the roots of history. “It was the fall of my second year there, and I heard an announcement that the racquetball club was looking for a mentor,” Koestner said. “They just wanted someone to be responsible for the team. What they got was someone who was interested in every detail.”
That’s the Cliff Notes version. Koestner went on to build a juggernaut as the St. Louis University High School Junior Billikens came to dominate state and national competitions. It’s a legacy that now leads to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, which is proud to induct Koestner among the Class of 2016.
Enshrinement Ceremonies presented by Killian Construction are Sunday, January 31 in Springfield. (For tickets, call 417-889-3100 and see more information below.)
With Koestner in charge, the Junior Billikens have not had a losing season since 1990 and have won nine national championships since 1998, including its fifth consecutive in 2015. It’s quite a dynasty. No other team has won more than five national titles, according to USA Racquetball.
Additionally, Koestner’s program has won 15 state titles. And the most recent national and state titles showed the Junior Billikens’ dominance in the sport – they won the national title by 40 points over the second-place finisher and the state title by 210 points.
Koestner’s passion for the sport stretches beyond the high school. Some 25 years ago, he launched a spring intramural season for his players. That, coupled with a league-sponsored summer camp, provided year-round play that would enhance the competition of his team and others. He also organized an annual day-after Christmas tournament for former SLUH players and current players. The Missouri High School Racquetball Association, with Director Dan Whitley, now boasts more than 450 players in the St. Louis area alone.
In other words, it’s been an incredible road since 1985, when Koestner was a part-time choir director.
“I had played myself in what was called paddleball in the ‘60s,” Koestner said. “It was basically the same ball and court but with an oversized ping pong paddle.”
When Koestner took over, he recognized a need to ratchet up the team’s skill level.
“They were doing OK. They would win maybe half their games,” Koestner said. “But they would start playing racquetball two weeks before the season and then, the day the season was over, they’d put down their racquets until the next season.”
Koestner immediately went to work and, little did he know, it would become as much an obsession as a profession. He called for an intramural season once the next school year resumed and called for more sessions each spring.
“That got the kids fired up,” Koestner said. “They were more competitive against each other. That was a real positive.”
The early years, Koestner would find only frustration as some, but not all, players took it seriously. Slowly, however, he began “recruiting” players who didn’t make the cut for football, soccer and other sports. The summer camps began in 1994.
“I marketed the heck out of the team,” Koestner said. “We just kept getting bigger and bigger. At one point, we had the largest team in the nation, with 110 kids.”
Early on, Koestner hired top local players to perform clinics for his players, and he attended coaching clinics led by Fran Davis and Jim Winterton. Davis has been a longtime coach on the national and pro circuit, including 10 years as the United States Racquetball Association’s training camp instructor. Winterton has coached top talents since 1973.
“Out of those conversations was the strategy we adopted. It allowed us to be as successful as we were,” Koestner said. The strategy calls for selection based on a set of percentages. “At first, the kids were reluctant to buy into the philosophy. High school boys liked to hit the ball hard. But that’s not always the best way to win a racquetball match.”
The 1994 team delivered a first – an undefeated season in league play and a state runner-up. The Junior Billikens won state a year later and, in 1998, won their first national title.
Assistant coaches Pat Zarrick, Robert Hoffmann, Jeff Rombach, Mark Kissel, Jeff Cernicek, Stephen Deves, Ryan Franklin and Matt Gleason each play important roles, too. Koestner has remained coach even after retiring as choir director. He also rehabs houses and owns a Bed and Breakfast, Wallmanor.com.
“I’ve had talented kids and great coaches to work with. They are the reason I didn’t retire from coaching,” Koestner said. “I just never imagined that this is how the pursuit would turn out. With racquetball, I just tried to make fun and show kids how to be winners.”
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Enshrinement Ceremonies 2016 presented by Killian Construction
What: Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Enshrinement
When: 11 a.m. reception presented by Meeks The Builder’s Choice at the Hall of Fame, 3861 E. Stan Musial Drive; 4 p.m. reception & 5 p.m. dinner & event on Jan. 31
Where: University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center
Missouri Sports Legend: University of Central Missouri athletic director Jerry Hughes
Class of 2016: Mizzou Tigers football coach Gary Pinkel; former big-league pitcher Jerry Reuss, longtime NFL coach Gregg Williams, Springfield native and retired PBR bull rider L.J. Jenkins, Kansas City Chiefs center Tim Grunhard, St. Joseph native and Olympic gymnastics silver medalist Terin Humphrey, Kansas City native and St. Louis Cardinals linebacker Eric Williams, longtime Kansas City Royals scouting director Art Stewart, Evangel University men’s basketball coach Steve Jenkins, West Plains native and former Texas Christian University baseball coach Lance Brown, former University of Missouri and Olympic track and field standout Natasha Kaiser-Brown, Missouri Southern men’s basketball coach Robert Corn, St. Louis University High School racquetball coach Joe Koestner, Missouri State University sports information director Mark Stillwell, John Burroughs High School football coach Jim Lemen, The John Burroughs School football program and the Mizzou Tigers’ 1966 Sugar Bowl team. The John Q. Hammons Founder’s Award will go to Med-Pay, Inc., owned by Gordon and Marshall Kinne, and Ken Meyer of Meyer Communications is the recipient of the President’s Award.
For tickets, call 417-889-3100. Individual tickets are $150. Tables of 10 are $1,500 and include associate sponsor recognition in the printed program and autographed prints. Sponsorship opportunities such as congratulatory ads also are available.
