Machado siblings win gold at Junior Nationals in Des Moines

Elijah and Alyana Machado turned the USA Racquetball Junior National Championships in Des Moines into a family breakthrough, with both siblings winning gold against the largest Junior Nationals field since 2017. The June 24-28 event at the Wellmark YMCA drew 180 athletes from 17 states, and the Machado results arrived in the sport’s most important age-group showcase for young players.

Alyana Machado made the strongest first impression. In her first Junior Nationals appearance, she won Girls 10 & Under 2-Bounce gold, added bronze in Girls 10 & Under singles and paired with Sasha Rai of Chicago for bronze in 10 & Under doubles. Elijah Machado, moving up into the 12 & Under division, responded with gold in doubles alongside Zyren Farinas-Salvador of Oahu and bronze in the 12 & Under singles blue flight. For Kauai, the medals carried extra weight because the island no longer has indoor 4-wall racquetball courts after the former Kauai Athletic Club closed before COVID.

The family context makes the results stand out even more. Philip and Marlene Eliana have spent decades in national and international racquetball, and their experience has helped keep the next generation in the game despite the lack of local facilities. Elijah already had two gold medals from his first Junior Nationals appearance in Minnesota in 2025, and he later earned a place on the U.S. Junior Team for the World Junior Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. That 2025 junior world trip ran Dec. 5-13 and included a record delegation of 107 people overall, with 33 junior athletes from eight states.

The Machado siblings now sit on the edge of another national step, with both listed as Junior USA Team alternates for the next World Junior Championships in December. That status, combined with Alyana’s quick rise in her first national event and Elijah’s move into a tougher age bracket, points to a Kauai pipeline that is producing players ready to compete beyond island borders. Junior Nationals covers divisions from 8-and-under through 21-and-under, and the Machados showed that Hawaii can still place athletes on the podium in crowded brackets while carrying the island’s hopes into the next round of international selection.