How Dr. Joseph Koestner Established St. Louis University High School’s Top Tier Racquetball Program

The following article was published in St. Louis University High School’s Prep News, the weekly school newspaper, as a feature regarding Dr. Joseph Koestner’s founding and growth of the school’s racquetball team. Over the years, SLUH’s racquetball team has won sixteen National Championships and numerous State Championships, making it one of the most successful teams in the nation. Koestner is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame for his dedication to SLUH’s racquetball program and St. Louis racquetball as a whole. This article details the rise of SLUH’s team through the lens of Doc’s leadership and its continuing legacy with the present-day team and alumni.

Every year on the afternoon of Dec. 26, generations of racquetball players gather at Vetta Concord, the team’s home club, to compete for the acclaimed trophy, The Doc. While these players are of all different ages and skill levels, they all have one thing in common: they are alumni of the St. Louis U. High racquetball team.

Dr. Joe Koestner— affectionately referred to as “Doc” by his players and band students— began the SLUH racquetball team in 1985. But, he had a long journey before then, and it took a long time to create the team of today. Koestner started by playing handball in the 60’s, until he began work on his doctorate. Since playing handball causes swelling in the hands, it was difficult for Koestner to play the piano.

“I would come into my string bass lessons with fat hands, and I started playing some clumsy scales,” said Koestner. “My teacher said, ‘Let's stop and talk about this. Are you planning on becoming a professional musician or a professional handball player?’ I sort of laughed, and I said, ‘Well, I’m not going to be a professional handball player, that's for sure.’ So, he said, ‘Then you've got to stop it, because you can't play the way you need to when your hands are like this.’ So, that's when I took up racquetball in the late 60’s.”

The historied SLUH racquetball team began in fall of 1985, when Phil Schenkenberg ’86 requested a faculty moderator for his new racquetball club. Koestner heard this announcement over the loudspeaker and joined him in creating the team.

“They had no idea that I had no interest at all in just being a moderator,” said Koestner. “I wanted to coach.”

However, with little coaching experience and having not played at a high level himself, Koestner was unsure of how to teach his new players the strategy of racquetball.

“My philosophy of the game back then was to hit the ball to where the other person isn't,” said Koestner. “What I started doing is have really good players come in and give a clinic to the guys, and I would sit there and write down what they said you should and shouldn't do.”

It was during one of these clinics, given by pro female player Fran Davis, that Koestner learned about percentage racquetball. Percentage racquetball is a strategy that Doc would implement heavily with the team, which revolves around hitting a shot that is both most likely to make it and to give yourself an advantage in the rally, as opposed to slamming the ball as hard as possible.

“Her approach to the game was so logical that it just struck a chord with me, and that's when we adopted the whole principle of high percentage and low percentage shots, not shooting from the back of the court, and using the ceiling ball to control the game,” said Koestner. “So, that came from her; I don't take credit for that. I just take credit for winning a hell of a lot.”

Over the following years, Koestner would go on to start leagues in the fall and spring, as well as establish tournaments throughout the winter season, such as the Top Turkey and Top Seed tournaments.

 “I noted that the guys were good athletes, but they would put their racquets in the closet on the last day of the season and then get them out the following October,” said Koestner. “So I thought, ‘Well, we're never going to win anything if that's how much racquetball we're playing.’ That's when I started doing these extra tournaments and leagues.”

Doc initiated several tournaments over his years as coach. The Top Turkey tournament was started as a way to keep playing during Thanksgiving break. The Top Seed tournament places the top three players from each school against each other in brackets. Koestner created this tournament because old rules made it difficult for all players to compete in the State tournament.

“In order for you to qualify to play in the State tournament, you had to have fifty percent of your team have a winning season, or else no one on the team could play,” said Koestner. “So I started the Top Seed tournament so that all those guys that didn’t get a chance to play in State would get a chance to play each other.”

One of the tournaments that Koestner started was the SLUH alumni tournament, which began in 1996. Koestner wanted to keep his current players playing over break, while also getting an opportunity for alumni to come back and play again.

“One thing that bothered me was the fact that when we had a vacation like Thanksgiving or Christmas, racquetball just came to a stop, and I thought this was not good for team development,” said Koestner. “Then I noticed I just always enjoyed the guys on the team so much, and I thought it was kind of a bummer that I never got to see them again after they graduated. Another reason that I started the alumni tournament the day after Christmas was that most guys come back to town, even if they marry and have jobs in a different city, they usually come back to visit family on Christmas.”

Koestner continued as head coach, and then assistant coach, leading SLUH racquetball in claiming all 16 of their national championships, including the 12 consecutive titles which began in 2011 and ended in 2023. Koestner was also inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame for his work in racquetball.

Koestner retired from teaching and coaching at the end of the 2022-23 school year. At the alumni tournament that year, then-coach Stephen Deves ’11, wishing to commemorate Koestner’s accomplishments, renamed the tournament to the Doc Koestner Alumni Tournament. Deves also created a trophy for the winner to claim each year, known as The Doc.

 “I started my first couple years playing in this tournament and running it. Each year, I just got to know some of these SLUH alumni that would come back every year. What I learned was how much they loved this tournament, looked forward to coming every year, and how much they enjoyed being competitive and trying to win. It was just a really fun experience, and what I loved is that it brought people together across decades. People that would not normally know each other or be friends would see each other once a year and hang out. It was just really neat to see people from the 80’s, 90’s, 2000’s, and 2010’s, all coming together and playing, and I just thought that was such a special thing. And then obviously, as I had played in this program and coached in this program, I understood that SLUH racquetball is so special because of the man that was in charge of it for 30 years, Doc Koestner,” said Deves. “He has built this community that is so unique and such a loving family. So for years when I was director, I had this idea that eventually this tournament deserves to be called the Doc Koestner Alumni Tournament because he is the reason all these alumni keep playing. So when he officially decided to retire then I thought it was the perfect timing.”

The alumni tournament has connected generations of SLUH racquetball players, from Scott Ziegler ’99 (6-time winner) and Joe Sharamitaro ’02 (7-time winner), to Brendan Giljum ’10. Giljum was the first player to ever claim The Doc, winning the newly renamed Doc Koestner Alumni Tournament in 2023, which was also his first time winning the alumni tournament.

“I was honored to be the first person to win The Doc, as he has had a massive impact on me when I was a student, still as a player, now as a coach, and overall as a person,” said Giljum.

This past December, James Storgion ’18 became the second person to claim The Doc, beating Giljum in the finals 21-14.

“Brendan’s a great friend of mine so it was cool to play him in the finals. I’d made it to the semis the last three years and had made it a goal to win next year, so it was awesome to beat that goal by a year,” said Storgion.

The Doc Koestner Alumni Tournament is a testament to the team Doc built, from its early days in the 80’s learning percentage racquetball, to 12 consecutive national championships in the 2010’s and early 20’s, and it will continue to serve as a get-together for one of SLUH’s largest families.

“This is a very special event that I want to see continue to thrive and be meaningful. I want it to be an annual event where people want to come back for the SLUH Alumni Tournament. Whether they've played or not in the last year, whether they are competitive, that doesn't matter. What matters is that they want to continue to be a part of this racquetball family. I would like to see it continue to be a fun, competitive, and meaningful event where people just enjoy being there, reconnecting with their old classmates, and then those that are serious and competitive also have a strong desire to want to win and do well,” said Deves. “Ultimately, I just want to see it be the link that keeps our SLUH racquetball family together.”

Next year’s Doc Koestner Alumni Tournament will be held on Dec. 26, as usual.