Altamonte Springs, Florida Racquetball League: Spring Season 2009

It is a new year and a new season for the Altamonte Springs racquetball league! Many familiar faces have come back, with a few new faces here and there. The 2009 spring season began three weeks ago and the competition looks to once again be very tight all throughout the season.

Lucky for all of the players in the C league, last season's undefeated champ, Tim Yousef, moved up to the B league, so everyone now has a slightly better chance than they did last season!

With Tim gone, it is quite difficult to predict who the favorites to win the championship will be. On paper, Brian Munger could be the top favorite, as he went undefeated in the regular season last year, as his only loss was in the championship game against Yousef. However, Munger would be the first to tell you that his undefeated record was very deceiving, as he came within 1 or 2 points of losing 2 or 3 of his matches. Other top candidates for the trophy include James Holton, who shows B-league potential when he is on top of his game. James was one of the rare players that took Yousef to a third game last season. Keith Belikoff and Jose Garcia are very skilled and have outstanding court coverage, so they will be forces to be reckoned with every single week. There is also Mike Harris, who won the league two seasons ago. When his serve is on, he can beat the best. And don't overlook Steve Gau! Early last year, he was one of the lower ranked players in the league, but surely and steadily, he has improved from week to week and finished in the top 4 in the regular season standings last fall. Then of course, there is Alex Olivera, who once played in the A league. It would seem that an A league player would be a clear cut favorite to win this league; however, he is allegedly playing with his opposite hand, so who knows what may come of him.

With three weeks complete, the early leaders are Brian Munger and Steve Gau, who both are posting 3-0 records. Munger has a key matchup in week 4 vs Holton, who he has never beaten in 4 chances. Munger admits that one of the key reasons that he was undefeated last season was because James wasn't on his schedule!

It's still very early, though, so lots of other players still have time to overtake the top spot before all is said and done. Time will tell!