The Game Plan
A publication of the National Senior Games Association - January 2012
Below you'll find the full content from the newsletter, or click a link below to go straight to the story :
A basketball team record of 195 wins, 5 losses, and 7 National Titles, may bring to mind legendary teams like the LA Lakers, Chicago Bulls, or the Boston Celtics. But, this impressive title doesn’t belong to an NBA team. It belongs to the Louisiana-based senior women’s basketball team, the Tigerettes! These six feisty ladies have played together for 15 years, with the most recent addition of a player seven years ago.
The team got its start when Mavis Albin (74) read about the Senior Olympics in the local paper. She commented to her husband, “I would love to play basketball again.” His response was simple and pithy: “Why don’t you?” Mavis contacted a team already playing in the senior games and it was through this team she met a fellow competitor, Nikki Leader (65). It didn’t take Mavis long to realize she would rather play WITH Nikki than against her. Their Livingston Parish team grew with the additions of Wanda Blailock (68), Loretta Hill (72), and Kitty Sparacello (68). Mary Bendsen (68) was added seven years ago after a chance meeting with Mavis in Portland, OR. The rest is NSGA Gold Medal History!
Continuing to compete, the team travels to various tournaments around the country. Individual team members practice on their own several times a week. Mary Bendsen says, “Since we don’t live near each other, being prepared to run our plays effectively without team practice is challenging.” To prepare, the team arrives a couple of days prior to a tournament to refresh their plays and team skills. Their method seems to be working!
These women love the game! They each say that participating in the games keep them healthy, active, vibrant, and feeling young! When asked to give advice to those interested in becoming involved in the Senior Games, Wanda Blailock said, “DO IT NOW!! Don’t wait…. Contact the senior games in your area or surrounding area. Don’t wait for all the lights to turn green.” Mavis suggests, “You may not be physically able to play basketball, but there are so many activities for anyone over the age of 50. It will literally change your life! It did mine.”
For more information on the Senior Games offered in your area and the National Games, please visit www.nsga.com
Welcome from the Cleveland Sports Commission!
On behalf of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, our Local Organizing Committee and the City of Cleveland, Ohio, we would like to express our excitement to be hosting the 2013 Summer National Senior Games. This monumental event will run from July 21 – August 5, 2013 and will welcome athletes, family, friends and fans from all across the United States. Cleveland is a world-class city that is excited to greet the 2013 Summer National Senior Games with open arms and a commitment to making this a great and memorable event for all! Learn more at www.cleveland2013.com.
In addition to hosting the 2012 Ohio Senior Olympics and the 2013 National Senior Games, Cleveland will expand the effort and offer a year of programming for area seniors and their families. The programs vary in format, location, and size, and cover a broad range of relevant topics to encourage older adults to get involved and live active and healthier lives. More information on the Year of Vitality will be coming your way over the next 18 months! Learn more by visiting www.cleveland2013.com and clicking on Year of Vitality. For more information about the Year of Vitality, contact Rachael at 216.479.6345 x 6 or email rachaelsb@clevelandsports.org.
All about CLEVELAND!
Not sure where to start when planning your visit to Cleveland? We invite you to take advantage of everything our community has to offer including our notable history and culture, a plethora of amenities and entertainment options, fine dining, great shopping and so much more! Check out the most up-to-date happenings and chat with the knowledgeable staff at the Cleveland Plus Visitors Center at www.positivelycleveland.com.
Mastering Our Adult Years
By: Lisa Menninger
I have recently been talking with clients, friends and fellow athletes about mastery.
Seems we make it to our late 20's and early 30's, finally feeling we have a grip on what we need to know to live our lives and get through each day.
Sometimes that can be when we stop actively learning new things. Time gets tight. Responsibilities increase, and we may have little time and energy to do the things that keep us growing and learning.
But then we may have an experience that changes how we look at the world or ourselves and it opens the door to a new path that we haven't traveled before. It shows us there is more to learn and perhaps we should open our minds and our lives to new experiences.
Recently I spoke with a cyclist who is in her early 40's. She had a life-long history in another sport. She decided it was time to move away from that sport and started taking spin classes to stay in shape. She rode well. Quickly.... Another person in her class asked her if she'd ever raced a bike. And that was it. She began a journey that day that changed her life and brought a new set of skills and challenges to learn. She has excelled and is really only at the beginning of her life in that new sport.
When I was in my early 30's, I ran a local 5k. I had no idea what I was doing. I went out too fast. I fell apart in mile 3. But I finished second overall woman. Didn't run much again til the following year. Decided to "train" for this same race, one year later. So I did what I thought would help me run faster that second time around. I won the race and ran over a minute faster than the previous year.
That was a decade and a half ago, 30 marathons and ultra marathons ago, and hundreds and hundreds of races ago and more than 35 thousands training miles ago. That race literally changed my life. I started working toward running goals which led me to cycling, multisport and competitive power lifting, and my life as a trainer/coach/speaker and wellness consultant. I had no idea my path would change so drastically that beautiful May morning.
My best friend is in her late 40's. She had raised her kids and realized it was time to build a professional career for herself again. She didn't want to return to her previous job as a speech pathologist. Medicine had always tugged her sleeve and she began looking into becoming a Physician's Assistant. Her investigation into the process left her overwhelmed and questioning if she could do it. Time, money, pre-requisite classes... How could she possibly make this work?
It took more than three years, but she got in to PA school and began classes this past June. She is engaged in a new program and is mastering the tools she needs for her life-long dream of a career in medicine. She is going to be an amazing Physician's Assistant. She just had to realize that in one decision, she could change the course of her life, engage in the process of mastery once again, and build a dream career for herself.
There is a woman in the running group I coach at The Runner's Soul in La Grange, IL. She is 60 years-old. She lost her husband 5 years ago. She was not sure how to get her life back on track after such a staggering loss. She turned to running. In the last year and a half she has run 12 half marathons. She is about to do her 13th in February. She is positive, always interested in improving her time and her fitness. She encourages others in the group. And they look up to her. She is a role model to them in her commitment to her health, her fitness and her running. In her late 50's, she decided to become healthy and fit. She is winning her age group. She is mastering a whole new way of life. She did all of this, in one decision.
One of my clients is in his mid-40's. He came to me in March, wanting and needing to change his lifestyle habits for the sake of his long-term health. He had decided he must change his path. Drastically. He has lost more than 80 pounds, several waist sizes. He ran a 5k for the first time in his life, and he now looks and feels like a different person. He has found the athlete in himself. He has found a committed and dedicated advocate of his own health and well-being. And in the process, his elderly mother who lives with him, has also gotten healthier. He has taken his positive and healthy changes and brought them to her life. Their doctors are thrilled, as you can imagine. In one decision, he decided to learn a new way of life and commit himself to something completely different. He is mastering this process impressively and has found a whole new part of himself.
Everyone of us, each and every day, has the opportunity to say, "I want to learn something new. I want to do something completely outside of what I have done before". If we stop learning and seeking to find new challenges, big or small, we can stagnate. Mastery is a process that allows us to engage mentally and often physically in unchartered territory. It allows us to grow mentally and physically and in ways we cannot foresee.
I believe that people evolve, rather than change. We uncover, with each step of mastery of something new, who we really are. We discover our potential and find we have more talent, dimension and strength than we ever knew.
It's a new year just around the corner. Master something new. See what it teaches you about yourself and what it uncovers about you. What a wonderful gift to give yourself, with a simple decision.
Lisa Menninger is a personal trainer for triathletes, runners, and cyclists. She has competed at an elite level in running, cycling and multisport. You can contact Lisa via her website at www.lisamenninger.com.
2012 Qualifying Year for the 2013 Summer Games
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