1996 - Cali, Columbia
Team : L'Équipe
Mike Ceresia, Mike Green, Lori-Jane Powell, Christie Van Hees
By Lori-Jane Powell, from "BCRA Newsletter", May/June 1996.
There are two words that come to mind when describing this year's Tournament of the Americas in Cali, Columbia: Hot & Humid! The city of Cali is situated only 20 miles from the equator, thus producing temperatures above +30 degrees. This definitely poses a challenging racquetball playing experience, especially for those of us who left -20 degree temperatures only two days earlier.
The tournament was very well organized and prepared. On our first night in Cali, we were greeted by a friendly, young 12 year old girl who referred to herself as our "Godmother." She was won of the few people in Columbia who spoke fluent English and Spanish, and was assigned to Team Canada to help us with any problems, questions, or concerns we might have.
The shock of the extreme weather conditions was felt the first day when we endured the opening ceremonies in our lined tracksuits (perfect for our Canadian weather). It didn't take long before the tracksuits were shed and shorts and t-shirts became our new attire for the rest of the week. The opening ceremonies included many different native Columbian dancers with extravagant costumes and routines to give us a slice of Columbian tradition and life.
Opening matches began two hours after the opening ceremonies, in which all four of us were scheduled to play in the first time slots. It was a little overwhelming to say the least. We soon realized that the heat was not going to disappear and each of us concentrated on keeping ourselves as cool and as hydrated as possible.
The opening round robin section of the tournament went well for Team Canada (composed of myself, Christie Van Hees of Kelowna, Mike Ceresia of Montreal, and Mike Green of Toronto) with all four players winning their respective pools. In the second half of the week, Team Canada members were quick to learn why the USA is consistently ranked #1 in the world as all four team members ended up losing to Americans. Tammy Brockbank from the USA won the womens event and Brian Rankin of the USA won the mens. However, from these games we gained more valuable international experience which can only help get us pumped up and ready for this year's World Championships in Phoenix.
Overall, between the friendly and helpful people of Cali and the beautiful Columbian countryside the racquetball tournament was a wonderful experience and a great success. And not to go without mention is the racquetball club which was a spectacular site, boasting 6 racquetball courts, 4 pools, a fishing lake, basketball courts, restaurant, 60 tennis courts, and an exercise gym and weight room. It was definitely an experience not to be forgotten any time soon.
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