Today the nation, soon the world

Penngrove’s Heather Mahoney, at the age of 12, will try to conquer her world for the second time in as many years.|

Penngrove’s Heather Mahoney, at the age of 12, will try to conquer her world for the second time in as many years. Mahoney’s world is racquetball, and she is the best in the nation among her peers and poised to again become the best in the world.

Mahoney qualified for a return to world competition by winning the 12-and-under championship in the USA Racquetball National Junior Olympic Championships in Minnesota.

She was in her first year of 12-and-under competition after winning both national and world titles in the 10-and-under division last year. She also teamed with her doubles partner, Julia Stein of Pennsylvania, to take a gold in 12-and-under partner play.

The two then met in the singles finals for the national championship, with Mahoney winning.

“She was my toughest competition,” Mahoney said. “I enjoyed playing against her, but it was challenging. She is a very good player. I had to play well to beat her.”

As she has done often in her still-young racquetball career, Mahoney also played up, competing in the 14-and-under class, where she took a silver medal, finishing second after losing in a very exciting three-set match.

“It was fun to play girls with more experience,” Mahoney noted.

Her efforts were not unnoticed nor unappreciated. For the second straight year, she was presented with the Esprit Award as the Female Player of the Year for the 10-and-under and 12-and-under age groups.

For Mahoney, playing in the Nationals was like returning home. “I get to see a lot of friends from different states I’ve met before,” she explains. She also knows pretty much what to expect from her opponents since she’s played many of them before.

It will be different when she gets to the World Championships.

“I don’t know what to expect since you don’t know who is going to be there,” she says. “But I know it will be challenging. I’ll have to be prepared.”

It is difficult to improve on the world championship she won last year, but both she and her coach agree that Mahoney is an improved player and is going to get better.

“Almost everything about my game is improved,” the player says. “My serve has become much more effective, but it’s all tied together.”

“Her game is much more consistent,” says her coach, Brian Dixon. “Her game is more consistent, she is hitting the ball lower and returning serves better. She has more serves now.”

Dixon says she will be getting even better. “I still have a list of things she can work on,” he explains.

While Mahoney is devoted to racquetball, it is not her whole life. She is very excited about starting junior high school as she prepares to enter Kenilworth this fall, and she is playing club soccer this summer.

Still, it does come back to racquetball.

“I get so excited about it (racquetball), it is such an awesome sport,” she says.

For her, it is more than the competition and the thrill she gets from her success on the court. It is also about the friendships she has made and continues to make.

“I always want to win,” she says, “but I respect my opponents. They practice hard, too. I’ve got a lot of friends from different states and we all meet at the Nationals and hang out together.”

Then there is the travel. Last year, it was to the Dominican Republic for World’s competition. This year, it will be to Mexico. And there have been trips all over the United States.

Most of time, the family - Heather, sister Hadley, mother Meodese and father John – drive, often with visits to national parks and other attractions along the way.

“It’s fun for the family,” says John, who is a strong racquetball player in his own right. “We try to go to different places as we go to the tournaments.”

The family won’t be driving to Mexico, but they will be there to support a talented seventh-grader who literally holds her world in her hand.

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