(courtesy of patreon.com/wphlive)
WPH Press, Tucson, AZ, 3/20/23
We love our favorite Race 4 Eight pros, but they eventually stop hitting aces and kill shots and retire. The WPH is thrilled to bring you the Race 4 Eight Legends – Where Are They Now, as we catch up with what our favorite pros are doing in their Race 4 Eight retirement.
On Edition 1 of the Race 4 Eight Legends – Where Are They Now, we catch up with one of the game’s most revered and respected greats, Naty Alvarado, Jr. “El Tigre” will discuss when he stepped away, how he manages his time post the Race 4 Eight tour, if ever feels the itch to dawn his gloves and more.
Naty, Jr. still lives in Spring Valley Lake, CA, roughly a driver and a five iron from the Bike family.
Naty’s last Race 4 Eight start came at the 2016 Race 4 Eight Player’s Championship in Portland, a second home to El Tigre. Naty’s last of four Race 4 Eight Men’s Pro finals came at the 2013 Simple Green U.S. Open, although Naty continued to make deep runs in Race 4 Eight events for several more seasons.
“I was just not able to maintain my needed court time to be competitive here in the High Desert Region of SoCal. We had no one left to play due to everyone in our area being injured,” lamented Alvarado, Jr.
What is Naty doing now?
“I am mostly playing golf now, but I still workout 5-6 times a week. I love running and using old handball training techniques. I feel incomplete if I miss a workout. I truly believe that every workout buys me more time on this beautiful earth. I know there are no guarantees, but I love the motivation of buying time. Turns out that taking time away from Handball and focusing on my mortgage career was a big payoff. I joined back up with a company named Mortgage Solutions Financial in November of 2018 based out of Colorado Springs. I got promoted to a Branch Manager’s position managing a team of nine loan officers.”
How much handball does Naty play today?
“I haven’t played indoor handball since late 2018. I never enjoyed arriving at a handball tournament unprepared. I just couldn’t stay sharp enough to meet the level of my expectations. This was the only reason I stopped playing handball.”
Does Naty get the itch to return to the court?
“Trust me, watching my nephew John Bike, Chris and Ryan Watkins play handball gives me this weird feeling when I see them. I cannot explain it. It’s almost like “I have the next game”. Such a strange handballer’s mentality even after all the time off. I mean the sensory reaction is this mental explosion of challenge and reward. There’s nothing like hitting a handball, diving, sweating, and that feeling of a perfectly hit back wall that flat rolls….nothing!”
Are you interested in what your favorite legend is doing now? Email me at David.fink@wphlive.tv
Stay tuned for more Race 4 Eight Legends: Where Are They Now throughout 2023
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer