Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
This is the fifth in a series of articles about the athletes, coaches, and builders who make up the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026. The induction ceremony will be held at the Ches Leach Lounge on May 2. The first article ran in the April 18 edition of the Daily Herald.
While some sports like hockey, soccer and football are mainstays in the public eye there are others that enjoy a brief shelf life and then they disappear.
Racquetball is one such sport, but when it was in its heyday during the 1990s there was a young phenom and he came from Prince Albert.
For the entire decade, from 1990-2000, Joel Mihilewicz was dominant in the sport, even as he moved up to older age classes, and to recognize his lengthy list of achievements the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame is proudly inducting him in the athlete’s category at its annual induction banquet on Saturday at the Ches Leach Lounge.
“It’s really kind of special,” admits Mihilewicz. “I never thought of it before (while playing), but to be recognized – it is a pretty amazing feeling.”
For someone who would consistently win provincial and national titles, Mihilewicz kind of discovered the sport in an unorthodox manner.
“I was a hockey player first,” explains Mihilewicz. “But my brother got hurt really bad and Mom got scared and said no more hockey – no more contact sports.”
“Dad heard about racquetball because it was a big thing back then and he signed me up,” added Mihilewicz.
In addition to hockey, Mihilewicz also played tennis when he was very young so getting into racquetball was a natural progression for him.
“I used to play tennis with my brother and my cousin, but when they were on the court I would go hit the ball against the wall by myself,” says Mihilewicz. “I just loved hitting the ball as hard as I could and racquetball made me feel that way again. I really loved the intensity.”
Mihilewicz’s footprint in the sport was immediate. He was a member of the Prince Albert Racquetball Club’s junior team for 11 years and was on the provincial junior squad for 10 of those years. Mihilewicz was a provincial champion every year but one from 1990-2000 with the exception being a silver-medal finish in boy’s under-14 competitions in 1996.
Nationally, Mihilewicz competed at eight straight national junior championships winning the gold medal in 1992 and ‘93 for boy’s 10-and-under and then in 1994 and ‘95 for boy’s 12-and-under. He also collected a silver medal in 1999 while competing in boy’s 18-and-under doubles and was fourth in 1996 while vying for the boy’s 14-and-under crown.
Mihilewicz made several trips to the world championships – in 1992 and ‘93 in Jacksonville, Fl and 1994 and ‘95 in California – with his best result being a bronze medal in the boy’s 10-and-under doubles event in 1993.
In addition to competing, Mihilewicz also coached and served as a board member in later years, but the sport began to disappear at the turn of the century when racquetball facilities were utilized by private owners for other purposes such as weight rooms and workout areas.
While Mihilewicz is honoured to be going into the hall of fame he says there are a couple of special reasons for his appreciation.
“I’m the third generation from our family going in,” says Mihilewicz whose father Barry is already enshrined in the builder’s category (2013) and again in the athlete’s section (2014) with Joel’s grandfather Tony for the 1972 Bantam West Hill Flyers team that captured a provincial championship.
“I also had two pretty amazing coaches in Amanda (McDonald) Dunn and Lori-Jane Powell and they both are already in the hall and to be in there with those two is something really special. I know how good they were.”
Mihilewicz was pretty good too and on Saturday his long overdue spot in the local hall of fame will become reality. His late grandfather Tony won’t be there, but it is certain he will be cheering him on along with numerous other family members and friends.
The 34th Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet is scheduled for Saturday, May 2 at the Ches Leach Lounge at 7 p.m. For tickets, contact Jody Boulet at pashof@citypa.com.
