Utah Summer Games: Playing for family, fun at the USG racquetball event

Utah Summer Games, Raquetball, Cedar City, Utah, June 13, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

CEDAR CITY — Racquetball can be a family affair, even when the family’s not around.

1usgDevin Stout, who won bronze in the men’s open and gold (with partner Darrin Heinz) in the men’s doubles open at the Utah Summer Games Saturday in Cedar City, said he always has his dad with him.

“He passed when I was 11-years-old,” said Stout, of his father, Orville. “He loved racquetball. I didn’t really play with him when I was young because I wasn’t any good. But it would be fun to play doubles with him now. I always think about him. I would love to be able to play with him. I know how much he loved the game.”

Devin Stout, Utah Summer Games, Raquetball, Cedar City, Utah, June 13, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Devin Stout, Utah Summer Games, Raquetball, Cedar City, Utah, June 13, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Stout said he and Heinz met up at the St. George Recreation Center and Heinz took him under his wing.

“My dad wasn’t around anymore, but Darrin kind of took me on and coached me and taught me how to play the game,” the 26-year-old Stout said. “It’s pretty fun, because now it’s like pupil vs. teacher.”

Heinz finished second in the open singles category, with Stout taking third. But the two St. George players were unstoppable in doubles, taking the gold medal match 15-8, 15-13 over the Cedar City duo of Jon Ashdown and Kevin Collister.

“I’ve been playing for 23 years,” Heinz said. “I went to racquetball because I kept getting hurt on motorcycles. It’s such a great sport. I love it. It’s a real challenging sport and it’s great exercise.”

Utah Summer Games, Raquetball, Cedar City, Utah, June 13, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Utah Summer Games, Raquetball, Cedar City, Utah, June 13, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

One of the big stories of the racquetball event at the Summer Games was the presence of “ringer” Andrew Gale. Gale is an internationally-ranked player from Sandy who swept through the open category without losing a game. In fact, Stout’s six points in the semifinals of the medal round was the most anyone scored on Gale the entire event.

Laird Campbell, who is a relative newcomer to racquetball despite his being one of the older players at the event.

“I’ve been playing six or seven years, but it’s just fun,” he said. “We’ve got some of the best people on the world that we play with, a great crowd of guys and gals. It keeps you fit. I had a friend one day who said, Let’s go play racquetball.’ We went and played and I loved it.”

Campbell and partner Darlene Wilcox won the mixed B/C doubles over Karlton Moss and Jenny Nielson, 15-14, 15-11. Karen Marchant won the women’s open singles and Ashdown won the men’s elite.

For a full list of results, click the following pdf: Brackets 2015

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

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