Hurst resident wins international racquetball tourney in Denver

It might be hard to believe, but Patrick Gibson of Hurst wasn’t a fan of racquetball.

Until he tried playing.

“I first started playing racquetball in college. When I came to Texas for graduate school, my roommate was an avid racquetball player and he began to teach me the sport,” Gibson said.

“I played handball for about three years in high school in Florida and remember thinking the people who played with a racquet were lazy, until I tried it.”

Ever since, he and the sport have been inseparable. He’s not only a frequent player, but a great one, having won numerous trophies and championships.

He recently returned home from Denver with a pair of gold medals from the International National Masters Racquetball Association Championships. He’s also won the 2007 U.S. Open for Men 50-Plus Singles, has finished second twice, and has two U.S. Open runner-up finishes in doubles.

In all, Gibson has accumulated 48 medals in the National Masters Racquetball Association, 26 gold.

In addition, he’s won numerous state singles and doubles titles, including state doubles in the same year, 2001, in three different divisions.

And he has finished as high as third in the World Seniors competition. He was inducted into the NMRA in July of 2014 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“I had a friend that I played tennis with in high school, and I continued to play tennis while in college, but you had to constantly chase the balls,” Gibson joked.

“At least in racquetball they are contained in a smaller space.”

He ran plenty in Denver, however. The event featured between four and seven matches each day for four days, which he viewed as a great workout.

“I enjoy racquetball because it is fun, you can get a good workout in 90 minutes and I usually play people in my own age bracket,” he said.

Gibson recalled last year when he received the Hall of Fame honor, calling it the thrill of a lifetime – and something he never expected in his lifetime.

“I was thrilled to be inducted, never thought that would happen. I thought you had to be really old , and my goal early in life was to survive to age 25,” he said.

“We do not have a place for the Hall of Fame. It travels with the players. You get to keep the big trophy with the names on it for months, kind of like the Stanley Cup.”

A licensed professional counselor at a psychiatric hospital in Bedford, Gibson calls racquetball his “therapy.”

His greatest memories of playing are competing with his sons.

“My middle son and I finished second in doubles one year at the Tornado Alley tournament in Wichita Falls. That was very rewarding to be able to compete alongside of my son,” he said.

He also serves on the board of the NMRA as treasurer. However, he will always be loyal to his home base of HEB, playing regularly at both the Maverick Athletic Club and the Hurst Recreation Center.

“I plan to play racquetball for years to come, unless physically unable,” he said.

Elite Boot Camp

Attention!

Bedford Parks and Recreation is offering the next session of Elite Boot Camp beginning Aug. 11. The camp consists of authentic military-style workouts.

The camp is advertised as featuring simple but effective fundamental movements at a high intensity, so though the movements are simple, they are anything but easy.

The camp also promises no verbal intimidation from drill instructors.

For more information, visit www.elitebootcampfitness.com.

Neighborhood fishing in Hurst

The Neighborhood Fishin’ Pond at Chisholm Park aims to bring the great outdoors into the and provide family fishing opportunities close to home for city-dwellers. Hurst is one of five Dallas-Fort Worth area neighborhood lakes that receive frequent stockings of catfish in summer and rainbow trout in winter.

A valid freshwater fishing license is required unless the angler is 16 years old or younger. Fishing is allowed by pole and line only (no nets or other devices), with a limit of two poles per person. There is no minimum length limit and a five-fish daily bag limit per angler for both channel catfish and rainbow trout.

For more information, call 817-732-0761.

This story was originally published August 14, 2015 at 2:40 PM with the headline "Hurst resident wins international racquetball tourney in Denver."