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Going for the Gold

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PRIME – June 2014 By Debbie Gardner debbieg@thereminder.com "Things are changing, and I'm trying to change the Senior Games for the people that are aging up," Larry Libow, managing director of the Massachusetts Senior Games told PRIME candidly during a meeting about the upcoming 23rd anniversary of the event. It was early May, and Libow was concerned about registrations for the June 8 archery competition. The numbers, he noted, were approaching the capacity of the Sportsman Club in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, and he was contemplating stretching the event to two days. Not only has archery surged in popularity over the past few years, Libow explained, this year's event would also serve as a qualifier for the 2015 National Senior Games on July 3 to 16 in Minnesota. Archery, pistol shooting, pickleball, kayaking, disc golf . gone are the days when such sedate sports as shuffleboard, lawn bowling and horseshoes were well-attended events in competitions that took place exclusively on the campus of Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. "We're gaining sports that a lot of people have never heard of, but that's because things are changing," the 65-year-old Libow said. "That's because the older, active adults are different than the older adults used to be . I'm nothing like my grandparents were when I was 9 years old." For example, the 2014 Senior Games began with late winter skiing and snowboarding competitions and a well-attended hockey tournament in eastern Massachusetts. The warm weather events began May 18 with a 10K road race at the Horace Mann School in Watertown, Massachusetts and will end with a 5K cycling race in the fall, though the exact venue is not yet set. Newer events, such as this year's addition of disc golf as well as the traditional track and field, swimming, basketball and volleyball competitions are sprinkled throughout the summer. It's not that the original Senior Games sports have completely disappeared from the roster; it's just that as older adults remain more active, interest in those competitions have waned. "Even if I found a location to hold shuffleboard [in Springfield] I doubt I could find more than two people to play," Libow noted. Libow said he did have some athletes still interested in horseshoes, but had trouble finding a venue. He finally located a horseshoe pit at AMVETs Post #74 in Three Rivers, Massachusetts. Shuffleboard is also still on the schedule, but no date is set. A history of the Games According to Libow, the Games have gone through many changes some positive, some challenging since their inception. When John L. "Jack" Neumann, an associate professor of Physical Education and adjunct professor of psychology at Springfield College, first proposed a series of athletic events for area seniors back in the early 1990s, the idea was to encourage a more sedentary population of aging residents to become, and remain, active. Today, Libow said his biggest obstacle is finding a way to balance competitions that challenge the serious older athlete with offerings that provide opportunities for the less committed to come out and participate in the games. Neumann, however, was in the right place in the '90s to launch his concept of keeping older adults active. Libow noted that the professor's initial idea was one that reinforced the college's Humanics philosophy which, according to the Springfield College website, is based on the age-old Greek ideal of the balanced individual, in which a person's emotional, intellectual and physical lives are interconnected. "He convinced Springfield College that it was a perfect fit for the college and its health, education and physical recreation (HEPE) department; the Senior Games [concept] fit right in," Libow said. Neumann's initial effort to get local seniors moving culminated in what was called a "Fun Walk" in Springfield's Forest Park in the summer of 1991. Aware that other New England states were already hosting "senior games" type athletic events for older residents, in 1992 Neumann joined forces with the Springfield Council on Aging and then Gov. William Weld to found the state's first Olympic-style competition for athletes 55 years of age and older, and the Massachusetts Senior Games summer competitions were born. In 1995, Winter Games were added to the competition. From the outset, Libow said, Springfield College and its campus have always played an integral part in the summer Games, providing Neumann with both office space for Games administration and registrations for many years, and acting as a venue for the annual summer events. "The Games took place [on campus] over the course of two days," Libow said of the event's heyday in the mid-1990s, when funding from the state's Office of Elder Affairs helped make it a big celebration "It had a big health expo during the course of the games, a mascot, people walking around the track holding poles announcing their sports [and] a torch lighting ceremony [to open the games]." Subsequent budget cuts scaled back the scope of the celebration over the years, according to Libow. Springfield College will still host two days of competitions on June 14 and 15 of this year, with track and field, tennis, table tennis, swimming, racquetball, basketball, walking and men's volleyball taking place on campus. (See www.maseniorgames.org/registration.html for times and venues.) Team event registrations are already closed. Individual event registrations close June 6. Libow said for 2014 he is also reinstituting the opening ceremony complete with torch lighting at noon on Saturday, and has asked that the competitions slated for that day take a break to allow athletes to attend. "We're going to do it at noon rather than first thing in the morning because many athletes may not have arrived [at the Games' start] but by noon, they will have," Libow said. However, other vestiges of the old Games, such as the health expo, Saturday night banquet and campus events stretched over two days are a thing of the past, he noted. "It used to be track and field and swimming were split over Saturday and Sunday, the 100 meters on Saturday, the 200 on Sunday," Libow said. "This is crazy. Every other meet for master [athletes], which is what competitions for track and field and swimming [in this age bracket] is called, is on one day." The relocation of events to other parts of the state pistol shooting to the Hamilton Rod and Gun Club in Sturbridge, Massachusetts and badminton to Boston Badminton in Westborough, Massachusetts, for example, reflect changes in venue availability as well as level of expertise among competitors. Senior Games archers, he noted, now show up with sophisticated compound bows, and "most [cyclists] show up wearing Lycra . like the Tour de France" for their competitions. "Everyone takes their sport seriously," Libow said. "We moved to Boston Badminton because [that area] is a hotbed of badminton play." Pickleball which combines elements of tennis, racquetball and badminton in a sport played on a court one-third the size of a traditional tennis court is another example of how the Senior Games are evolving. "We started [hosting tournaments] three years ago and it may soon overtake track and field as the most popular sport," Libow said, noting that the competition slated for the Shrewsbury Health and Racquet club has already expanded to a two-day event. Looking to the future Another big change, as noted on the registration page of the Senior Games, is that all events are now open to athletes 40 years of age and up, with competitions broken down into five-year age groups. "Way back, you had to be 65 [to compete], then The National Senior Games decided the bottom age was 50, now our Board of Directors decided it's 40," Libow said. Though the cutoff to compete in the National Senior Games is still 50 years of age, Libow said his board felt, "Why not offer the opportunity to people who are 40 years old and up. They get the T-shirt and compete for gold, silver and bronze medals [in their age group]. They can also look forward to competing in the [qualifying] senor games" when they reach 50. Broadening the age of competitors and explaining the age brackets is part of Libow's strategy to destigmatize the Senor Games, and draw in a more active crowd. "Why would some 55 year-old person want to compete against some old codger?' Libow said as an example. "Most people don't realize they [will be] competing in five-year age groups." He's also looking to expand the roster of sporting events to attract more of a cross-section of athletes. For example, he's hoping to add mountain biking, white water canoeing, skeet shooting and ballroom dancing to the Games in the next few years. "Whatever the sports, if there are adults doing it, I want to know about it so I can bring it into the fold," Libow said. Athletes with suggestions for new events are invited to email the information to Libow at Info@MASeniorGames.org. Libow has also made one more change this year, overseeing the closing of the old office on the Springfield College campus and putting much of the 23 years of memorabilia collected there into campus storage. "For the past five years, if not longer the Massachusetts Senior Games and the National Games have done everything online," Libow said, referring to registrations, which used to be taken over the counter by staff, and then processed by hand. "If a person can't find a child, or grandchild to help them, I will send out, on occasion, a paper form." He's also processed an odd application over the phone for the non-tech savvy. With two more Games until the 25th anniversary, Libow has set his sites on raising not only awareness of the Games, but the level and caliber of competition. He's enlisted the help of Davis Cox, a businessman from central Massachusetts, to act as state ambassador for the Games which is a non profit organization to help boost financial support from corporations and other supporters. He's also looking to increase athlete participation in the games by 50 percent for both this year and next year's Games. "I'm working on making every event even better than it was," Libow said. "If I can get every athlete to say that this is great . I want to bring my friends," then he will be on his way to achieving his goal. Photos in this story courtesy of Massachusetts Senior Games. Bookmark and Share