SHE’S THE QUEEN OF THE COURT
By TOM CORRIGAN
Bothell Reporter Reporter
Nov 21 2008
Now married for 61 years, Bothell residents Don and Joyce Jones met on a roller-skating rink. Somehow, the conversation turned to badminton and, buoyed with the knowledge she could beat anyone at her high school, Joyce announced she could also beat the Navy sailor she would eventually marry.
She didn’t. She admits to not even being able to return one volley. Turns out, Don had been playing in badminton tournaments since he was 8.
“But he taught me everything he knew,” Joyce said.
The lessons must have stuck. Now 78, Joyce spends about half the year going to various senior-citizen tournaments around the country and the world, a triple threat with a racket on badminton, tennis or pickle-ball courts.
(For the uninitiated, pickle ball is sort of a hybrid of badminton and tennis, invented 30 years ago by a former Washington congressman who also was a friend of Don’s.)
Joyce has no idea how many medals she has won in the three sports, but figures they must number into the thousands. She has won 275 badminton titles alone. The sport is much more popular in Canada, and Joyce holds more titles than any other player in the 55-year history of that country’s national tournament. She was ranked as the No. 1 player in the U.S. in 1970 and again in 1975.
Joyce didn’t start playing tennis until she was 46, but over the years, the U.S. Tennis Association has awarded her five gold, three silver and eight bronze balls. She is a past athlete of the year for Mature Athlete magazine. And the accomplishments go on. And on.
“I just love the competition,” Joyce said. “I probably wouldn’t be playing all these sports if I was playing just for fun.”
Last year, Joyce attended 20 tournaments. She’s headed to Phoenix in two weeks and will be in Florida in January. Previous competitions have taken her to Australia three times, but she mentioned her favorite trip was probably to Austria.
“You meet so many people,” Joyce said, adding you begin seeing them at tournament after tournament. “It’s just such a joy.”
Joyce said she has had many memorable wins, but quickly adds a tennis victory during a tournament in Salinas, Calif., this past September stands out. Joyce brought home a national title despite taking the court with a new partner.
While her on-the-court accomplishments are many, before even talking about those, Joyce first mentions that she’s gotten so much out of sports over the years, she felt she had to give something back. She is the founder of the Northwest Senior Games, held in Seattle as the state’s qualifying meet for the national senior games, which include a wide range of sports.
Before Joyce helped launch the games, with the help of sponsor Leisure Care, Washington was the only state in the country with no qualifying matches for the national competitions. This year’s games attracted some 1,000 athletes. Both Joyce and Don serve as directors for the event.
Past owners of the now-defunct Gallery Tennis Club in Seattle, both Don and Joyce teach badminton classes at the Columbia Club of Silver Lake in southern Everett. Don played competitive badminton for many years and won his share of medals until his partner passed away. These days, he’s pretty much a homebody while Joyce travels. The two have four children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Joyce is gone so much, one of those granddaughters suggested Don needed a pet, so he ended up adopting Marco the cat.
For the future, Joyce is looking for a new personal sponsor and is always on the lookout for sponsors for the Northwest Senior Games. With a knee replacement and 11 surgeries behind her, how long does Joyce figure to keep playing? Her response really isn’t too surprising.
“As long as I’m upright,” she said.
Bothell Reporter Reporter Tom Corrigan can be reached at tcorrigan@bothell-reporter.com or (425) 483-3732, ext. 5052.- Civil
- Smart
- On-topic
- Free of profanity
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