Late bloomer captures title

Rick Gauthier, a 35-year-old Metis man from Winnipeg, captured his first provincial championship in Brandon on May 3, winning the men's "B" class racquetball tourney.

That championship was achieved while he was also entered in another tournament. Gauthier also won the bronze medal in the senior men's "A" division that weekend.

The Winnipeg Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development employee defeated the top two 18 year olds in the province to win his title. He beat Thompson's Chris Webster, 15 to 7 and 15 to 4 in the semi-finals and then battled Winnipeg's Jonathan Oteyza, winning 15 to 11, 4 to 15 and 11 to 6 in a marathon tie-breaker in the finals.

"This was clearly my best tournament ever," he said. "Next to the gold medal, my most enjoyable win was the Senior "A" bronze medal match against Thompson's Stu Jobe. Stu hits the ball much harder than I do, but I just outhustled him on the court."

Gauthier was scheduled to compete in the Canadian Racquetball Championships from May 19 to 23 in Burnaby, British Columbia (after publication deadline). He hoped to win his first "D" class national championship there. It would be a big step towards becoming the top player in Canada.

"Anything less than first in Burnaby will be a disappointment," he said.

All this success is quite impressive, especially when you consider this is only his third season of playing racquetball.

"Even though I started playing later in life than most competitors - most players start when they're teenagers - my goal is to capture the provincial men's "A" crown next year," he said. "After that, who knows."

He is hoping to compete in the World Senior Racquetball Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico on the Labor Day weekend.

"We'll see how well I do in Burnaby first and whether or not I can afford the cost of going," he added.

Gauthier plays and trains out of the Supreme Racquet Club in Winnipeg.

"I train about six days a week, alternating between playing racquetball and squash, as well as weight training three to four days per week. Additionally, I in-line skate to work every day. That really helps with strengthening my legs as well as my cardiovascular conditioning," he said.

When he is not playing racquetball, he coaches young players in a program he started last fall called the Inner City Racquetball Club. The program is a partnership involving Urban Sports Camps and Racquetball Manitoba. Gauthier said the Winnipeg Native Alliance has also been instrumental in the success of the program.

The rising racquetball star said he started the program "because I noticed there weren't a lot of Aboriginal people playing racquetball and it's a fantastic game to teach discipline. It is a great game for those who like individual sports. Besides, compared to a lot of sports it actually isn't overly expensive to play.

He invited any Aboriginal person in Winnipeg who would like to learn the game to give him a call at work.

"I promise I'll take it easy on them." he said.