Racquetball’s Bill Sell Learns to Play in Pain

Bill Sell studies exercise physiology at Cal State Fullerton, and he understands how the body is--and isn’t--supposed to bend.

So when Sell dived for a ball at the U.S. national age-group racquetball championships two months ago, he knew his right hand was in for some serious hurting.

“My (ring) finger was sticking out this way,” Sell said, bending the finger as far as he could to the right. “Then my palm began to turn purple.”

Sell, of Fountain Valley, broke his right hand while diving in a first-round match at the Houston tournament. He paid the injury no mind.

“I played 13 more matches,” he said. “I’m left-handed, so I could keep playing. I just pulled my right hand up to my chest to protect it.”

And when it was over, Sell, 31, was the 30-and-over national champion. He finished 11th in the overall division, which earned him a berth in the B Division men’s singles at the Olympic Festival.

The broken hand is one of only several injuries Sell has weathered during 19 years on the court. He cracked his kneecap and has undergone ultrasound treatments to help a stiff left rotator cuff.

Turf toe, sore elbows . . . you name it, Sell has hurt it.

“You get beat up a lot in this sport,” he said.

Although he says his hand is fully healed, Sell has struggled in his festival matches at USC’s Lyons Center. His record dropped to 0-2 Monday when he lost to top-seeded John Ellis of Stockton, 15-7, 15-11.

“I’m pretty much out of it now,” Sell said. “I have a chance at going to the medal round if I win my match (today), but it’s slim.”

Last year, he and partner Brian Hawkes of Santa Ana won a silver medal at the Olympic Festival in Minneapolis. The pair had won the national doubles’ championship in 1988.

“Brian and I have been together for seven years,” Sell said. “We’ve played in all three festivals that have had racquetball.”

Sell and Hawkes qualified for the festival as a doubles team again this year. But when Sell also qualified as a singles’ player, he decided to try it alone.

Hawkes is playing doubles for the South team with Doug Ganim of Columbus, Ohio. Sell said he plans to reunite with his old partner in time for the nationals at Phoenix in October.

“I’ve been playing with a torn hamstring the last two years,” Sell said, “and I felt my level of play had really dropped.

“Brian is hooked up with a good partner, and they’re doing fine.”

Sell began playing racquetball with some friends when he was 12. By the time he reached Dana Hills High School, he was playing in several amateur tournaments.

After graduating from Dana Hills in 1977, he played badminton two years at Orange Coast College. Then he began taking classes at Cal State Fullerton and playing on a professional racquetball tour.

“That’s why I’ve been in school for so long,” Sell said. “I couldn’t go full time because I would miss half a semester to go off and play in tournaments.”

But money was scarce on the pro tour.

“Especially for me,” Sell said. “I wasn’t playing very well.”

Sell returned to school and to the amateur tournaments in 1985. He plays in as many amateur tournaments as he can, while a Costa Mesa beachwear company supplies him with equipment and pays his travel costs.

“I like playing as an amateur,” he said. “The tournaments are a blast. I’ll probably keep playing age-group tournaments until I’m 100.”

Sell has watched racquetball develop from a recreational sport into a serious competition.

“The sport is very strong,” he said. “It’s supposed to be a medal sport at the Pan Am Games this year and it has a good shot at being an Olympic exhibition sport in 1996.”

Will Sell be there?

“I don’t know,” he said. “That’s a long way away.”