At this point it just seems prudent for Juneau’s mayor to keep touristy Whitehorse apparel in his closet. It would save Juneau tennis players from having to bring some back to Alaska each summer.
Whitehorse defeated Juneau a third year in a row at the Capital Cup, a sister-city tennis competition, July 7-9 at the Mount McIntyre courts in Whitehorse.
Also for a third year in a row Whitehorse Mayor Dan Curtis won a friendly bet with Juneau’s mayor. Ken Koelsch is now duty-bound to wear touristy Whitehorse garments to Juneau’s next city council meeting.
This year’s Capital Cup was the 10th since the competition was resurrected in 2008. The event dates back to 1983 but was discontinued in 2000.
“It was really great to meet other people in the tennis community … get some matches in,” said tournament director Carly Bohman. “We grouped everyone into levels so people were playing people within their skill level.
“People would stay around all day cheering on their team and it was just a really good atmosphere.”
Whitehorse took the competition with 267 games to 193 games for Juneau, which is the most lopsided score out the three straight wins for the Yukon capital.
Juneau brought their largest team ever with 17, playing 25 from Whitehorse.
Despite the win for Whitehorse, mayor Curtis may have come off a bit crabby at the last city council meeting.
“There was also a side bet between the mayor and the mayor of Juneau,” said Bohman. “Mayor Curtis played in two matches and if he lost matches then he’d have to wear a crab hat to city council. He ended up not winning either match so he had to wear his crab hat…. It’s really silly.”
Playing for Whitehorse with Bohman and Curtis were Lissa Abel, Peter Amelunxen, Russell Bamford, Kieran Bertsch, Angus Clarke, Nils Clarke, Anne Copland, Laurie Drummond, Rachel Drummond, Liam Finnegan, Ewan Halliday (the current Yukon men’s singles champ), Keith Halliday, Kieran Halliday, Justin Halowaty, Kaelen Halowaty, Lynda Harlow, Matthias Hoenisch, Ken Liao, Jamie McAllister, Van Pham, John Tran, Shahid Sayed and Zane Sayed.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com