Jack McBride was double trouble at the Canadian senior racquetball championships.
The 70-plus division winner in singles also teamed up with Barry Ould of Edmonton to capture the 65-plus doubles’ title recently in Antigonish, N.S.
“It’s very satisfying,” said the 73-year-old McBride. “There have been times I’ve won the singles and not doubles and vice-versa. This year my goal was to win the singles and the doubles. I worked hard to achieve that goal and I was very happy when I did it.”
It was also extra sweet for the St. Albert competitor to beat David Bates in quick fashion for the singles’ crown. In the 70-plus final in 2009 and 2010, McBride pushed the Quebec player to the brink of elimination but failed to finish what he started.
“The last two years and this year I just dominated him. I know that I should’ve won those previous two [finals] but I wasn’t prepared. This year I was,” said the 2011 provincial B.C. doubles’ champion with Cam Bourque of St. Albert and third-place finisher in 60-plus singles.
McBride’s sweeping performance continued his winning streak of national championships in every singles and doubles age group.
“My wife [Marion] calls them dust collectors but they’re all pretty special to me,” said McBride, who has been honoured nationally and by the racquetball provincial bodies in Alberta and British Columbia for his lifetime achievements in the sport. “The rest of my family [two boys, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild] is getting to the point now that they just take it for granted. It’s getting to be blasĂ© to them but not to me.”
At the 2009 senior worlds in Vancouver, the McBrides combined to win five gold, highlighted by their victory in the mixed 65-plus division.
“Other than the worlds, I never play with my wife because that is divorce city. She just won’t listen,” McBride said with a laugh. “One of the biggest thrills of that tournament was beating the Americans in the final because they thought they dominated but they didn’t.”
Marion, 71, kick-started her husband’s development as a national age-group contender when she bought him a membership at a new racquetball club in Victoria where they lived before moving to St. Albert.
McBride went on to serve as the club’s manager and was the driving force in organizing provincial and national championships at the Victoria location.
“I just took right to it. It was a racquet sport and that seems to be my fortĂ©,” said the retired Canadian Forces warrant officer. “I’ve always been racquet orientated. I played badminton for years in the military and then I switched to squash when I went to Victoria.”
Racquetball also keeps the former army physical training instructor in tip-top shape, in addition to his daily routine of 50 push-ups and 150 sit-ups. He also plays three times a week at the Mayfield Inn & Suites Athletic Club.
“I’m playing people that are younger than me so I have to play hard to play with them to be competitive. If I was playing people my own age all the time that are not competitive, it wouldn’t be much fun and it certainly wouldn’t keep me in shape. In order to play these other people I have to run and I have to run hard and that keeps me going.”
There is no 80-plus division at nationals but McBride believes there will be one day if he can stay healthy.
“I guess it will depend how long my body is going to hold up but according to the people I play with here, they say it’s endless for me,” he said. “I don’t get sore. I don’t have knee problems. I don’t have shoulder problems. I have a back problem but I’ve had that for most of my life and when I play it doesn’t bother me. I have arthritis in both hips and the doctors say the best thing you can do is stay active and I’m definitely active.”
The muscular right-hander plays a finesse game instead of trying to punish the ball.
“If you ask my friends, we lovingly call it Jack Ball. They all hit like 90 miles an hour and I’m more of a finesse player. I put the ball around the corners. I hit softly. I change the pace all the time. I keep the ball high. Against opponents that have great strength who kill the ball down low, by keeping it high I take that advantage away from them, and if they give me a shot I’m very accurate,” said the Winnipeg-born McBride, who joined the infantry when he was 17 and retired from the army at age 42.
He wasn’t the only big winner from St. Albert at nationals. Brad Kelly placed third in B doubles with Jon Semeniuk of Edmonton, and Marion placed third in women’s B singles.
All three received funding to attend nationals through the City of St. Albert’s Games Legacy Award Program.
“It was very helpful and we appreciate it,” McBride said. “We definitely made sure that people knew we were from St. Albert.”
