Courtesy of The Olympian
The World Players of Handball’s Race 4 Eight #4 pro Emmett Peixoto was honored as the Olympic Club’s “2015 Olympian of the Year,” the highest athletic honor at San Francisco’s famed Olympic Club. Mr. Peixoto was presented with the prestigious honor by the head of the Olympic Club’s Athletic Committee Mathew Davies at the Olympic Club’s Lakeside main dining room in a November formal affair.
Mr. Peixoto was honored for his outstanding handball accomplishments, which include consecutive national singles finals appearances (2014-2015), multiple national championships, a top four Race 4 Eight ranking and 12 Olympic Club singles titles. Mr. Peixoto was also honored for his outstanding contributions to the Olympic Club as the current Head Handball Coach, which sees the 2015 Olympian of the Year coach weekly junior, women’s and adult clinics, while serving as a role model for all handball players and an ambassador to the Olympic Club.
Mr. Peixoto has been a member and an Olympic Club sponsored athlete since he was 14, as he has proudly represented and supported one of the country’s most illustrious clubs for nearly two decades in handball competitions and clinics throughout the United States, Canada, Ireland and Australia. Mr. Peixoto was selected the Olympic Club’s Olympian of the Year amongst a group of 10,000 Olympic Club members, many of whom are decorated Olympic and Collegiate athletes. Mr. Peixoto became just the 26th recipient of the Olympian of the Year honor in the club’s 155-year history.
“Being given this award gives a certain amount of respect and acknowledgement towards all the work I have been doing over the past few years,” revealed Mr. Peixoto. “This award is a true honor. I am humbled to be a recipient. It also gives a certain amount of validation and respect to a sport in which had been previously overlooked at the Olympic Club in recent years. Moreover, receiving this award motivates me to want to train harder than ever and bring more people to the sport.”
For Mr. Peixoto, being honored with the Olympic Club’s Olympian of the Year award validates the immense challenges presented by the sport of handball, both on and off the court. “Receiving this award I feel confirmed in my understanding that people outside of our sport can and do recognize the demanding challenges of our sport and how difficult it is to excel. I am absolutely honored that I have been given this award, I feel as if my nearly life-long passion for this game has been confirmed.”
Mr. Peixoto plans to use the great honor to motivate more Olympic Club members to play and excel at the sport he cherishes. Mr. Peixoto takes tremendous pride in the players he introduces and coaches, enjoying their successes as much as his own. “I want to continue to build up the program. We now have 65 people regularly competing on our challenge ladder, a junior challenge ladder with 14 juniors and new players trying out the game all the time. One of my juniors placed first in the 11-and-under at the Simple Green U.S. Open this year, another placed 3rd in the 13-and-under. I also plan on bringing more Women into the game. My wife Jessica started play a year and a half ago and she recently finished second at the 2015 Milwaukee Classic. I truly love showing this game to others and watching them become infused with the same passion that affects all of us within the handball community.”
To read more about Emmett Peixoto’s Olympian of the Year honor, go to the Olympic Club magazine (in PDF)
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer