Gouldies reel in more success at racquetball nationals

Oren Gouldie continues to make waves on the big stage.

The soon to be 15-year-old came in with big expectations and delivered at the Racquetball Canada National Championships, earning two golds and one silver in Burlington, Ont., from May 17-23.

“I had high expectations going in because I won my division last year, but there’s always players that improve a lot, so I had high expectations and it was good that I could get the results I wanted during the tournament,” said Gouldie on Monday. “It’s nice to see the hard work all pay off and stuff. It was harder this year with some of the opponents that got a lot better, but it was really pleasing to see the success.”

Gouldie defended his crown in the 14U boys singles division, winning the championship for the fourth time in five attempts — he lost to Kyrylo Tkach of Ontario in 2023 — and improved from second to first in the 16U boys doubles category thanks to a brilliant performance from he and fellow Brandonite Halin Li. Gouldie also placed second in the co-ed elite singles bracket after dropping an 11-8 tie breaker decision to Christian Boudreau, which was his only loss of the tournament. He won 14 matches in total.

In 14U singles, he had a few tough tests against opponents Emile Martel and Nathan Buller, who Gouldie said improved quite a bit from the last time he faced them. The speedster, who stands under five feet, even trailed a game to start, but was happy with how he responded.

“I had a really hard semifinal and really hard final and ended up losing the first game, but stayed with it and then won the next three,” he said. “I beat them before I’d played them this time, so I knew I could beat him if I just played my game.

“Just trying to be patient, not giving them too many free points, like losing it on your shot, and just going for the opportunities you get and try and make them.”

Gouldie and Li defeated Felix Pothen-Bonnet and Benjamin Wallis in doubles semis and then had to finish off play against one of their own in Buster Macpherson and Li’s brother, Jialin, who are also members of Brandon’s “Cullen’s Crew” program.

It was the duo’s first appearance at a doubles tournament together, but Gouldie said they played plenty in Brandon, which is why their chemistry was so on point in Burlington.

It also doesn’t take very long for Gouldie to succeed in change. After all, he only picked up the sport around five years ago and is now the best 14-year-old player in the country.

While he said it can be hard to scope out and reflect on his natural progression from day to day, he recognizes how special his accomplishments have been over the years.

“It’s awesome,” Gouldie said. “Obviously, to go to these competitions and events in the first place, like when I started the sport, I just thought it’d be a recreational thing, but then I slowly progressed and started getting doing more of it and then got more coaching and then I just turned into this. I went to nationals one year and then I did really good, so I kind of started training more then and then I just got here.”

And he’s far from done yet. Gouldie hasn’t even reached his prime yet, and when he does, it won’t be a very lovely sight for his opponents. As for what’s next, there aren’t any major racquetball events until October with the world championships in Chile, so his plan is to train around four times a week and then ramp up once fall hits.

The biggest areas of his game he wants to improve in are shot execution and building more strength behind his release.

“Getting stronger, hitting it harder, that all helps too,” said Gouldie, who plans to hit the gym as part of his summer training. “The big one for me is to just improve from last year and see how close the gap on the scale is from the best to me.”

And he won’t have to look that far, as his brother, Leyton, is certainly in that conversation.

The 20-year-old has continued to climb the racquetball ladder, as he not only won the 21U singles boys title, but also placed fourth in the men’s open singles division, which helped him finalize his spot with the national mens elite team for the worlds.

He’s come a long way from when he first got onto the racquetball scene, just like the other 11 representatives from Brandon who put up great performances at nationals and that is all Kurtis Cullen’s doing. The competitive racquetball player has turned out to be an even better developer and mentor of the sport, as he’s worked his way from having just one to now 60 athletes in the junior program.

Cullen was recognized at nationals for his efforts, winning the Ivan Velan award, which was presented “In recognition of his significant contribution to the sport of racquetball.”

Gouldie said it’s been great to watch the sport’s growth firsthand and what everyone has been able to accomplish because of his coach’s hard work.

“It’s awesome seeing how well everyone’s doing,” he said. “It’s mostly Kurtis’s doing. He’s been working with everyone all year and me all year, so it’s great to see that pay off for everybody and him as well.”

Cullen added: “It’s great to see. It’s one of those feelings that you don’t get used to because they get better and therefore you see a different side of them, so you’re always excited for their growth. Every single year before nationals I see all the athletes peak and when they’re just playing in games, you just kind of sit back and you’re like, ‘Holy smokes.’

“You kind of reflect on where they were last year going into nationals and where they’re right in front of my face two weeks out before the event and you’re like, ‘They’ve come a long ways.’ You just get that good feeling, that warm heart and I can guarantee you’re going to get that feeling every single year because they’re just going to get better and better and better. It’s exciting to see.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com

 

Here are all the nationals results for players from Cullen’s Crew:

Oren Gouldie: 14U Boys Singles Champion, 16U Boys Doubles Champion (with Halin Li), Co-ed Elite Singles 2nd

Leyton Gouldie: 21U Boys Singles Champion

Kaitlyn Couckuyt: 18U Girls Singles Champion

Jialin Li: Co-ed B Doubles Champion (with Buster Macpherson), 16U Boys Singles 2nd, 16U Boys Singles 2nd

Halin Li: Co-ed B/C Singles Champion, 16U Boys Doubles Champion (with Oren Gouldie), 14U Boys Singles 3rd

Tony Cao: Junior A Singles Champion, 16U Boys Doubles 3rd (with Gavin Bi)

Gavin Bi: 16U Boys Doubles 3rd (with Tony Cao)

Buster Macpherson: Co-ed B Doubles Champion (with Jialin Li), 16U Junior Doubles 2nd (with Jialin Li)

Emma Sopel: 14U Girls Singles 3rd, 18U Female Junior Doubles 2nd

Madison Sopel: 18U Girls Singles 3rd

Gabriel Chiupka: Junior B Singles 3rd

Samuel Chiupka: Junior C Singles 2nd, 12U Friendship 2nd