Jack McBride did it again.
The only Canadian racquetball player to win the Triple Crown repeated as the winner of his age group at nationals, world senior championships and the U.S. Open.
“I’ve only went after it twice and I’ve won it twice,” said a beaming McBride, who turns 81 years young next month. “I’m very, very happy. Nobody’s done it and even the first time I did it was not easy to do.
“I started playing racquetball in ’82 (in Victoria) and racquetball had started in Canada I would say really with a lot of clubs in the early ‘80s, or ‘79 and ‘80, and up until I did it in 2013, it had never been done.”
In 2013, McBride was the top male competitor in 75-plus singles at the three major tournaments and this year, the St. Albert resident was the 80-plus champion after completing the Triple Crown feat at the recent U.S. Open in Minneapolis.
“To repeat is always tough. That's why it’s sweet because the quality of play is still at that age level so darn good,” said McBride, who kicked off his second Triple Crown quest by defeating Fernand Gregoire of Manitoba 15-2, 15-1 at nationals in May at Winnipeg.
McBride, who plays out of LA Fitness in west Edmonton and is sponsored by the E-Force racquetball company, credits Brad Kelly of St. Albert for sharpening his skills on Saturday mornings.
“I’ve got to train for three months to get ready to play at that level,” McBride said. “Brad once again helped me prepare for this (Triple Crown). Brad is only in his 50s and he plays me like I don’t care if you’re 80, you’ve got to beat me. When I started playing him, he would beat me 15-2, 15-3, until I got to the point where I finally took a game off him through just sheer determination and when I can do that with Brad then I know I'm ready.”
McBride noted most of his matches at LA Fitness are doubles.
“We don’t normally play singles there because there are too many of us and not enough courts. You can’t tie up a court with two guys when there are eight guys waiting to play,” McBride said. “Singles is also hard on the body. When I played those guys in worlds had I not have done it with Brad and built myself to a certain level I would have never beat those guys because we don’t play enough singles. It’s a totally different game (than doubles) and the fact that I did that I was thankful for Brad that he got me ready like that to compete.
“I played 42 games (in 14 matches) and it wasn’t a question of being tired at worlds, it was a question of stamina.”
The Winnipeg-born McBride, a physical training instructor in the Canadian army before retiring at age 42 as a warrant officer, was the gold medallist at the 34th International Racquetball Federation World Senior Championships last month in Albuquerque, N.M., in 80-plus men’s singles while winning overall gold in the men’s 80 and 85-plus singles events based on a point system. He was also the bronze medallist in 75-plus men’s doubles with Luke St. Onge of Colorado and in 70 to 75-plus mixed doubles with his wife, Marion, 78.
“Marion has really stuck beside me with this stuff because obviously we spend a lot of time playing racquetball and I’m very fortunate that she plays, too, and the fact that she goes to these tournaments with me and plays, I’m just so lucky,” said McBride of Marion, the silver medallist in the 55 to 75-plus women’s doubles at worlds with Nidia Fumes of California.
At the 23rd annual U.S. Open, McBride and Jerry Raddatz of Minnesota were the only 80-plus males and they were slotted in the 75-plus bracket, which consisted of two pools of four players each.
McBride defeated Raddatz 15-4, 15-2 to win the 80-plus championship as the eventual 75-plus bronze medallist.
“I ended up beating two people in my pool so I ended up in the crossover and that's how I ended up with the bronze because I ended up playing the No. 1 seed in the 75-plus in the other pool. I lost (15-4, 15-1 to Bruce Hollander of Florida) so I got the bronze, which was totally unexpected so in other words what I did is I got two medals in the one age division because they were combined,” said McBride, who lost to the 75-plus champion David Zabinski of Minnesota 15-7, 15-0 in pool play.
After polishing off Raddatz, “I kind of took a breath and said, ‘I did it.’ I didn’t even know if I expected to do it but it was a relief to have done it,” McBride said. “I was more emotional at the worlds because at worlds I had two really tough wins playing the third seed and then playing the No. 1 seed and beating them both.
“The gentlemen at worlds were far more competitive than this individual. He said to me after the match, ‘I’m not even in the same class as you,’ and that’s a compliment.”
The former Racquetball Canada president plans to focus on local tournaments instead of the competitive circuit like nationals, the world senior championship and U.S. Open.
“I’m going to do those just for recreation and to keep myself fit but I’m not quitting racquetball entirely,” said McBride, who has served on the International Racquetball Federation executive committee as the North American vice-president and was instrumental in the establishment of the Racquetball Canada Hall of Fame.
