Athletes between the ages of 50 and 90 are gearing up for the third annual Sonoma Wine Country Senior Games, a 10-day event complete with competition, camaraderie, health screenings, and other social happenings – some sport-specific and some that bring food and wine to table.
The national movement, slated locally for May 30 through June 9, will see up to 1,500 area athletes competing in one or more of 17 sporting events, including archery, swimming, soccer, basketball, 5K walk, 5K/10K run, tennis, bocce ball, golf, square dancing, cycling, table tennis, pickleball, volleyball, softball, and new for 2013, track and field and horseshoes, according to the Council on Aging, which hosts the local event held at multiple venues throughout the county.
“A lot of our clients at the Council on Aging are isolated and homebound, so we really want to encourage people to take an active role in determining how they are going to age,” said Amy Crabb, Council on Aging development manager and Sonoma Wine Country Senior Games event coordinator. “The event is great because it really encourages people of all ages to stay active and engaged socially,” she said.
But judging by the regimes they keep, many Senior Games participants are already “ahead of the game.”
Take 53-year-old Windsor resident Bill Schalich, for instance.
The captain of the Dribblers basketball Senior Games team enjoys the competition, but he is self-motivated when it comes to playing the sport he has participated in since elementary school.
Schalich plays basketball with a group of friends on Saturday mornings at the Santa Rosa Junior College and at the Airport Club on other mornings. He is also on the health club’s over 35 league, he said.
“I like the exercise. I think it involves using the majority of your body in all different aspects of movement and I like camaraderie more than winning or losing. I always like to win, but the group of guys I play with is just awesome – at both the Airport Club and the junior college. … I also know that my time is counting down on how much longer I can play. Every day I can play is a blessing,” Schalich said.
“With my parents, exercise was never a part of what they would do before work, or when they got home. It was more about kicking back and relaxing and watching TV; that was how it was back then. Times have changed and plus we are living longer and you want to maintain your health into the later years,” he said.
This will be Schalich’s third time participating in the Senior Games. He said he is looking forward to this year, “especially if we can play some of the teams we had close games with last year.”
Healdsburg’s 70-year-old cyclist Ron Hodges is not only partaking in the Games this year, he also helped set up the bike course, because he did not think last year’s route was serious enough, he said.
But that’s not surprising considering he has been cycling for about 40 years, off and on.
He currently rides about six days a week, sometimes seven, he said. “This week I will probably ride over 350 miles,” Hodges said recently. “I enjoy it. I do it as a competitive thing in a way. I ride with people that are pretty fast. I ride a lot with the Santa Rosa Cycling Club and they break the groups down into A, B, C, and D with D being the fastest, or for the riders with the most endurance, and A being the social group, with short rides at a slower place. I ride with the C group,” he said.
“I enjoy it, if the weather is good and I am with other people. It’s a social thing, but it’s also a thing where we push one another. Everybody wants to try and stay in shape, despite their age. In the Santa Rosa Cycling Club there are a lot of older people and there are some pretty fit riders. I know a guy, Nikola Farats, also known as “the barb,” who is 80-years-old and he is going to race in the Senior Games. He has been racing for 50 years,” Hodges said.
While Sebastopol resident Char Barron, 69, may not be racing atop a bicycle, she will be giving it her all when she smacks those ping-pong balls during the table tennis competition at the Senior Games.
“When I was in grammar school I played ping pong in the garage every once in a while and I started at the Sebastopol Senior Center about four years ago,” Barron said, noting, these days she plays about three times a week.
“I love the camaraderie; I love the game itself. It can be very challenging and I love being active – and just the whole thing. It’s just a very wonderful experience for me,” said Barron, who plays table tennis at the Sebastopol and Rohnert Park senior centers and also the Finley Center in Santa Rosa.
This will be her first time partaking in the Senior Games. Asked if she felt nervous or excited, she said: “A little of both. … I am looking forward to some great fun and some challenging play. And, of course I would love to do well … and it will just be a great time. Even when I am not playing, I will see my friends play and I can root them on,” Barron said.
Registration is now open to all athletes, new or experienced, and volunteers are also needed. Those interested in participating can register online at www.winecountrygames.com or by calling 525-0143, ext. 146.
