Memories of the Lethbridge YMCA

The old Lethbridge YMCA on Stafford Drive across from the library. We spent a lot of Friday nights there in 1986 and 1987.
Source: Photo CJOC News (Pat Siedlecki)
https://www.mylethbridgenow.com/131/lethbridge-city-council-votes-to-demolish-former-ymca-building/
(May be subject to copyright)

What started out as a night out became a Friday night fixture. For almost two years, the Lethbridge YMCA was not only a place to go for a few hours, but became an institution.

A couple weeks ago I saw something that I knew had happened, but still made my heart a bit sad. The Lethbridge YMCA, located downtown across the street from the Lethbridge Public Library, was torn down a few months ago. Now, for the first time, I saw the empty lot that once was occupied by the YMCA.

It brought back a lot of memories, that all started in the spring of 1986, with a game of racquetball.

Racquet time
For awhile me and my new friend Randy heard about some of his friends playing racquetball at the YMCA in Lethbridge. Friday night was teen night, where we could have access to essentially the entire facility for one dollar. That sounded pretty interesting to us.

I had just started working at the greenhouse and Randy had just bought his first car, which he just loved. He agreed to pick me up from work, which was on the way from his place to Lethbridge. I used to wear overalls to work, over my school clothes, so when he picked me up, he didn’t want me sitting with those coveralls on his new seats. So he spread papers on the passenger seat. I totally understood that though.

When we got to the “Y”, we realized something. In our zeal to go to the “Y”, we both forgot gym clothes. We knew we could get racquets and balls at the “Y” but we never thought past that. Still, we solved that problem. The “Y” did have a pair of shorts that sort of fit me, and Randy had no problem playing in his jeans.

I will never forget when we walked in. There were huge windows that showed this massive gym below. I was hooked immediately.

We really didn’t know the rules, but we kind of did, and had a great time.

Getting racquets
We went a couple more times, as more of our friends like Chris and Dave started to come too. Eventually, Randy and I decided it was time to buy our own racquets.

We had heard the Woolco sports department was top quality, so we went there. The interesting thing was the salesman who sold us the racquets was Steven Gergely, one of the sons of the family I worked for who owned the greenhouse. The racquets were cheap too, like $20, but right what we were looking for.

The next Friday, when we got to the “Y”, Randy showed me what he had done to his racquet. He had found some letters and put his name on the racquet. H also pointed to something on the shaft – the number one. He was telling me, tongue in cheek, that he was the best. We both laughed.

Focus power
One of Randy’s closest friends before we met was named Larry. One night, he came to the “Y” and it was a night to remember.

Larry and Randy played me and Chris in doubles racquetball. They totally hammed it up, which was kind of funny.

They got this idea to “focus power” when they hit the ball, just like Mr. Miyagi told Daniel in “The Karate Kid”. So before every serve they said, “Focus power”. After each point they won, they would face each other, tap racquets and bow.

It got kind of old, because there was more of that than racquetball. The more frustrating part was it was pretty effective, and they gave us all we could handle.

It was your average teenage boy fun.

Clang
One night, Randy and I went down to the courts and there was this big metal thing up against the front wall. We played a bit, but that metal thing made a heck of a clang when the ball hit it.

Then Randy said, “Maybe it’s for squash.”

We went into this equipment room that had all sorts of stuff. That was where we got the first racquetball racquets we used. We found a couple squash racquets and a squash ball. Once we hit the ball around, it began to make sense. A squash ball was a lot softer, unlike a racquet ball which was hard and bounced all over the place. The squash ball just kind of died when it hit the wall, so you had to hit it way harder than a racquet ball. I could see how people said squash was a good workout.

The metal thing made sense now too. You had to hit the ball above it, so it would bounce off the wall. If you hit the ball low on the wall, it would die and you could score on every serve. So that metal thing ensured there would be rallies. Ingenious.

Parting thoughts
Racquetball was fun, but in the end it was just an entré into the Lethbridge YMCA. Pretty soon we were checking out the other parts of the “Y. More of our friends and classmates began to show up too. Some tried out the weight room, others the pool and showers.

Me, I felt the pull of something else – the basketball court.

But that is another story for another day on the blog.