Over 30 Cochrane-area seniors will travel to Leduc to compete in the Alberta 55 Plus Provincial Games that begin on Thursday.
From August 21 to 24, about 1,100 athletes ranging in age from 55 to 95 will be competing across a variety of sports at the games in Leduc, and the contingent of athletes from the Big Country Senior Sports Society (BCSSS)-- which represents a portion of Zone 2 in the eight Zone Alberta senior sports society-- hail from Cochrane, Bearspaw, Springbank, Bragg Creek and Redwood Meadows, Elbow Valley, and all of western Rocky View County (RVC).
The 37 senior athletes will compete in bocce, bridge, culture, cycling, darts, floor curling, floor shuffleboard, golf, pickleball, slo-pitch, swimming, and track and field. All 37 BCSSS athletes won their qualifying matches that were held in March and June, earning them the right to compete in this month’s Provincial Games.
Doug Campbell, the sports coordinator for Cochrane’s Seniors on the Bow group, and the vice president of BCSSS said the physical and social benefits of seniors participating in these games is immeasurable.
“There is a stereotype that has been around for many years, many years, that seniors are no longer active and no longer productive,” Campbell said.
Campbell added that he has worked with medical professionals who have studied the effects of this type of physical exercise on the health of seniors, and said that the lack of social and physical interaction is one of the main sources of decline in the health of seniors.
“We’re no pros,” Campbell said. “We’re not Tiger Woods, we’re amateurs. We’ve declined a little bit in our muscle mass, but what we’ve designed [in the games] is fun for everybody.”
The Alberta 55 Plus games are expected to be a massive gathering of senior athletic talent from all across the province. The athletes that represent the Cochrane area of Zone 2 will face off against competition that will come from far and wide.
The BCSSS athletes belong to just a fraction of athletes in the Zone 2 team. The Zone itself covers a huge swath of territory ranging from as far north as Sundre and Olds, as far south as High River, and stretches across the province, from B.C. to Saskatchewan.
Campbell says the experience of competing in the games is something that competitors talk about long after they’ve done it.
“It’s just a fabulous opportunity to meet people,” he said. “Usually our team is in the range of 100 to 150 and then the provincial team is up to 700 to 800. You get to meet people and have a lot of new experiences…I haven’t met anyone who hasn’t had a fabulous time.”
The Games themselves are well and fun, but what else is there to gain from the experience? Campbell highlighted the experience of a particular BCSSS athlete, a 102 year old woman who won gold in javelin.
“That [itself] is a motivator for people at this age to stay active,” Campbell said.
