National Senior Games torchbearer Nick Bal inspires after cancer diagnosis

The term 'torchbearer' has a literal and figurative meaning. The literal is someone who carries a stick with a flame on the end to commemorate the beginning of a ceremony or event. The figurative is someone at the forefront of a campaign, crusade or movement.

For Nick Bal of Ames, Iowa, both are appropriate.

Bal was a torchbearer for the 2025 National Senior Games that took place in Des Moines last summer. His parents were medalists in the National Senior Games in badminton in years past. Bal was one of 500+ tennis players to participate in the 2025 National Senior Games, so he’s a torchbearer in carrying on family traditions.

He’s also a cancer survivor. In 2015, he had lymphoma in his abdominal region. It was stage 3 at that time; it had spread to multiple lymph nodes. He used tennis to build back his strength and stamina, so he’s a torchbearer for cancer survivors fighting to overcome the effects of the disease.

Bal is also a torchbearer for the under-resourced in other parts of the world. He’s part of a missions organization that offers assistance to various service organizations primarily in Africa, helping them pool their resources and work together. He won’t be able to participate in the 2027 National Senior Games taking place in Tulsa, as he’ll be in Kenya.

Racquet Sports Background

Bal grew up playing badminton because that was the sport of choice in his parents’ native India. Both parents were very good at the sport.

They immigrated to the United States in the mid-1960s when Bal’s dad studied and worked at Iowa State University, eventually earning his PhD. Bal was born in 1970, part of the first generation in his family to be born in the U.S.

He added other racquet sports to the mix, including tennis. Bal’s older brother was exceptional at tennis, where he played No. 1 singles at Ames High School. Competing against his brother helped Bal improve.

After graduating from Iowa State, Bal said “life happened,” and he drifted away from tennis. But he came back almost 20 years ago. The culture of tennis, which he said represents the culture his parents brought with them from India, is what helped him return to the sport.

“It’s a gentleman’s sport,” he said. “I remember watching Arthur Ashe after a win at Wimbledon. He won the match, and he just walked calmly to the net, shook hands, went to the side and put on his jacket. He didn’t make a spectacle or anything.

“There’s something about this sport. You learn how to compete and how to control all types of emotions. That was something that was important to my dad. He grew up in a British system in India; it was just something that came naturally in our culture.”