Carla Muñoz Montesinos (born February 12, 1992) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

an professional

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase v ...

player. She has won multiple medals, including the three consecutive gold medals in the USA Racquetball National Intercollegiate Championships in 2016, 2017, and 2018. In 2014, Munoz was awarded Best Racquetball Player of the Year by the Chilean Journalist Association. She plays for the

Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour The Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour is the latest name for the women's professional racquetball tour. It features the world's best players and several events each season - running from September to May - that are mostly played in the USA. Hist ...

and is currently ranked #10 in the world. In 2016, Muñoz received a two-year scholarship to attend

Colorado State University Pueblo Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) is a public university in Pueblo, Colorado. It is a member of the Colorado State University System (CSU System) and a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). History 1933 to 1959 The idea for startin ...

to finish her degree in Business and Accounting, and to play for their nationally-ranked racquetball program. In 2017, Carla represented CSU Pueblo at the National Intercollegiate Championships, winning the gold medal in Singles, and the silver medal in Doubles.

Early life

Muñoz was born in Concepción, Chile, the daughter of Glenda Montesinos and Fernando Muñoz. She was raised in the capital city of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, who ...

along with two sisters and one brother, and was the youngest child. In Santiago, she attended De La Salle School, competing in numerous sports, and studied Flamenco dancing for 8 years. At the age of 14, Muñoz began playing racquetball after being fascinated by her own father playing the sport, who later taught her the game. After just a few months of playing, she began winning tournaments in the girls' division, then later started to compete with and win against boys her age. At the age of 17, she enrolled in

Adolfo Ibáñez University The Adolfo Ibáñez University ( es, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez) (UAI) is a private research university in Santiago, Chile associated with the Adolfo Ibáñez Foundation. In 1988, in accordance with new educational legislation, a university was ...

, studying business & engineering, and quit racquetball for nearly two years to focus on her studies. She returned to the sport to compete in the 2011 Pan American Games in

Guadalajara, Mexico Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaja ...

, where she took home the bronze medal with her doubles partner Angela Grisar. It was then where Muñoz decided that she wanted to become a professional racquetball player. She began traveling to the United States to play in more tournaments and train, knowing it would be difficult due to having no junior career and very little experience in high-level competition. In 2014, Muñoz moved to the United States, settling in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

to receive more training and play in more tournaments, while also furthering her educational aspirations of becoming an accountant.

Professional career

Muñoz currently plays for the

, where she is currently ranked #10 in the world.

International career

Muñoz has performed well in international competition. In 2011, she won the bronze medal in doubles at the Pan American Games. She took home the silver medal in doubles at the World Racquetball Championship in 2012. The 2013 Pan American Racquetball Championship saw her winning the Bronze medal in doubles. Munoz won another Bronze medal in doubles the next year at the 2014 World Racquetball Championship and became ranked #13 in singles. Muñoz earned a bronze medal in Women's Singles at the 2022 Pan American Racquetball Championships. She defeated American

Rhonda Rajsich Rhonda Rajsich (born October 7, 1978) is an American racquetball player. She has been World Champion in Women's Singles twice, and Pan American Champion 6 times (4 times in Women's Singles & twice in Women's Doubles), as well as US Open champi ...

in the quarterfinals, 15-13, 10-15, 15-11, 15-13, but then lost in the semi-finals to Argentina's

Maria Jose Vargas Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, d ...

, 11-15, 15-11, 15-7, 15-13. In Women’s Doubles, Muñoz and Paula Mansilla lost in the quarterfinals to Bolivians Micaela Meneses and Yazmine Sabja, 15-9, 15-5, 15-11. In Mixed Doubles, she and Rodrigo Salgado Jr. lost in the quarterfinals to Argentines Valeria Centellas and Diego Garcia, 15-5, 15-6, 15-12.

Other honors

*Highest LPRT ranking: #8 *Muñoz received the 2014 Best Racquetball Player of the Year award from the Chilean Journalist Association.

References

External links

USA Racquetball page for Carla MuñozCarla Muñoz's Twitter pageCarla Muñoz's Instagram pageCarla Muñoz's Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz, Carla 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Santiago Racquetball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for Chile Pan American Games medalists in racquetball Racquetball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Chilean racquetball players Racquetball in Chile South American Games bronze medalists for Chile South American Games medalists in racquetball Competitors at the 2018 South American Games Racquetball players at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games People from Concepción, Chile 21st-century Chilean people Competitors at the 2022 World Games