Gerry McIlhone has spent decades, racket and ball in hand, out on tennis courts across the province — from starting on the courts of Malvern Collegiate Institute in east Toronto to spending Saturdays the past 15 years at Memorial Park in Old Town, facing off against fellow members of the NOTL Tennis Club.
This past summer, however, is likely to go down as one of the highlights in his personal history of playing tennis.
McIlhone, a Nigara-on-the-Lake resident since 2009, partnered with Henry Andrulis at the Canada 55+ Games in Quebec City in late August, and together, they each took home the gold in the over 60 men’s doubles category.
They won their final match on Aug. 30, the last day of the four-day championships that started Aug. 27, breaking a 6-all tie in their second set, beating Michel Morissette and Denis Ouellette.
“It’s been one of the very best summers I can remember,” he told The Lake Report.
This win finished off a series of triumphs for McIlhone this summer: He won the NOTL Tennis Club’s mixed doubles A division championship with Kim Laidlaw, the club’s men’s A division championship with Manny Umoquit and was a semifinalist in the singles championship.
Over at the Hamilton Tennis Club, of which he is also a member, he won the men’s B singles and was a finalist in the men’s over 60 singles championship.
“Sometimes the stars just align and you get the right partners and you’re in good enough physical condition,” he said.
While McIlhone says he doesn’t believe he’s an overly competitive player, he said he enjoys the part of tennis that’s all about figuring things out and solving problems on the court, whether it’s as a solo player or as part of a duo.
“Competition can make you nervous and tight, or it can make you relaxed. For me, it’s very relaxing,” he said.
“I’m just so happy to get out there, competing and running and try things out … If I win or lose, it’s almost irrelevant. I’m just trying to get out and do the best I can.”
On Aug. 30, he faced his competition with Andrulis, who’s from Thorold. He’s someone McIlhone said he knows from their time playing together at the White Oaks Fitness Club’s tennis courts and who he said is a great athlete and a tremendous tennis partner.
“Part of the doubles is chemistry. You need to play with somebody you get along with, somebody you can when they’re not playing their best, who can support you when you’re not playing your best, somebody who shares your philosophy of, ‘Let’s just do our best.’”
On the other side of the net, Morissette and Ouellette, McIlhone said, were really good players and brought great sportsmanship to the match.
“We clapped for their great shots and they clapped for ours,” he said.
They faced off against Morrissette and Ouellette in two sets for the championships, winning the first set 7-6.
During the second set, they entered into a 6-all score, creating the opportunity for a tiebreaker — which, in the end, went to McIlhone and Andrulis.
“That was the culminating moment and we were just delighted,” he said.
“We’d had a great time in Quebec City,” he said. “The tennis was the cherry on top of what was a tremendous trip.”
With the NOTL Tennis Club’s closing date for the winter season around the corner, McIlhone and several of the local folks he plays with will take their matches indoors to White Oaks.
When he’s not busy with work as the manager of transit operations for the city of Brantford, or refereeing basketball games for the St. Catharines Catholic Youth Organization, he plans to play there semi-regularly.
As for what’s on the docket for tennis competitions next year, McIlhone is eyeing the Ontario Tennis Association’s singles and doubles tournaments, though it will involve travelling to Toronto to play.
“I’m very busy and very active and that’s part of the reward of being fit and healthy.”
zahraa@niagaranow.com