The Game Plan
A publication of the National Senior Games Association - December 2010
Below you'll find the full content from the newsletter, or click a link below to go straight to the story :
- Register now for the 2011 Summer National Senior Games
- Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
- Athlete of the Month
- Cartilage Care, Part 6
- How to approach the New Year
- Anthony Travel Information
- NSGA Briefs
- State Senior Games Calender:New Years, New Games
Register now for the 2011 Summer National Senior Games!
Registration packets for the 2011 Summer National Senior Games presented by Humana have now been mailed to qualified athletes who competed in member games that have submitted all of their results. In addition to the Veterans Games and Canada, these games have submitted their results. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Additionally Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are now eligible to register online for individual and partner events only. Team registrations from these states are not included temporarily.
The registration deadline is Feb. 15, 2011. Late registrations will be accepted through Mar. 31, 2011. Late fees are $50 for individuals and $200 for teams. Go online at www.nsga.com and register today!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
The NSGA wishes you and yours a healthy and prosperous 2011!
We at the National Senior Games Association hope for a safe and Happy New Year for you, your family and friends. Let us all approach the new year as a new opportunity. As Edith Lovejoy Pierce said, “We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.”
Athlete of the Month: Richard Merrill
Richard Merrill, 77, rolled his way into history at the Florida Senior Games State Championships this month. He won the men’s singles bowling championship in an 800 series that was capped with a 300 game. It was the first 800 series and only the second 300 game in the 19-year history of the championships. In the 800 series, Merrill bowled a 256, 269 and 300. He closed out the series with 20 straight strikes. A former professional bowler, Merrill also won gold medals in the men’s team, men’s doubles and mixed doubles.
Cartilage Care, Part 6
By Vonda Wright, M.D.
Are you getting the idea that dealing with cartilage wear is a difficult problem for masters athletes who want to stay active? Well, it is a difficult problem. This is because cartilage has a poor healing capacity at any age, and this simply gets worse the more years we accumulate.
Despite amazing conservative, surgical and biologic advances in the care of worn cartilage, there sometimes is a point where even the athlete must consider “healing with steel.”
Just because you have arthritis does this mean you have to quit being active? Absolutely not! It may mean that you have to change how you train….cycle instead of run, start cross training to give your joints a rest….or be creative in the solutions you try whether they are non-operative or operative. Even getting a joint replaced doesn’t mean you have to stop. There are many participants in the National Senior Games who run, pedal and swim their way into the winner’s circle. Being bionic is not all bad.
Now most of you probably think that knee replacement means that you are doomed to sit on a rocking chair for the rest of your life. The truth is that I and many of my colleagues view joint replacement as a license for mobility. This is because instead of hobbling around in pain and with stiffness for years… you are finally able to get back to doing the activities you love to do and do them with none or little difficulty.
Seriously…..many of my patients return to sports….tennis, cycling, rowing, team sports, swimming….everything except running. I’m sure some of my patients even try to run… and just don’t tell me.
So what is joint replacement? When cartilage wears down and the bones begin to rub on one another, it causes both pain and deformity. One side of the knee wears out faster than the other and the bones become lopsided. For most, we wear out the inside (medial) portion of our knee joint and the top of our hip joint first. This is why you see many people becoming bow-legged as they age.
All joint replacements, therefore, are meant to decrease pain and realign joints straight again. Joint replacement is performed by making an incision over the involved joint and removing the ends of the bones that no longer have cartilage on them. Special jigs are used to measure and align the cuts made on the ends of the bones to make sure the new joint is anatomically aligned like the natural joint was before arthritis wore it down. Now we are even using computer navigation in the operating room to more precisely align the bone cuts back to their natural anatomic position.
Once all the bone cuts have been made, the ends of the bones are replaced with metal replicas. Prior to surgery, X-rays are measured to ensure the proper sized implants are available and during surgery the surgeon measures to determine what size joint replacement is needed. When the surgeon confirms the proper size and alignment of the implants, they are cemented into place. This is why you can walk on joint replacements immediately.
The implants are made out of cobalt-chrome, ceramic or titanium alloys and are polished to a highly shiny surface. They reflect light like a polished chrome bumper or a mirror. Between the two polished steel implants a very tough piece of plastic, called polyethylene or poly, is inserted. The two bone ends move over this poly surface like your natural joint moved over its cartilage.
Rehabilitation after this operation can take three to six months depending on the kind of shape a patient is in prior to surgery. The post-operative results, however, are generally excellent with significant relief of pain and return of function. More than 90 percent of people continue to have good or excellent results more than 10 years after joint replacement.
Vonda Wright is an orthopaedic surgeon, author of Fitness After 40: How to Stay Strong at Any Age, and director of the Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine.
How to approach the New Year
By Lisa Menninger
So as you say good-bye to '10 and hello to '11 the big question is, do you make resolutions?
There are usually two schools of thought on this. One, don't do it. You'll just break them and that will make you more hesitant to set goals in the future. Who needs the disappointment?
Two, do it. It allows you to focus and implement strategies to meet your resolutions and goals as the year progresses.
I say set 'em. Don't make them crazy. Be realistic and put a "B" list in place for when you meet/exceed the "A" resolutions.
Resolutions and goals are important to us as athletes, even if they change in intensity and/or difficulty as we get older. For most of my clients, they do their best and most committed work when they have races/goals and resolutions at the outset of the year.
Resolutions are especially helpful in the early months of the year if you happen to live in a cold, snowy climate. It can be hard to get yourself out to train when you don't have something you are working toward. Goal races, target times and things of this nature allow you to stay connected to how what you are doing in the moment will affect your long-term outcome. They put something at stake in the moment so that you can stay connected to that long term goal. And that is where many folks will fall off and break a resolution. They lose contact with the goal.
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.
Anthony Travel Info
Anthony Travel is a one-stop resource for athletes and guests for the 2011 Summer National Senior Games
Anthony Travel is the most convenient and knowledgeable resource for making your travel plans for the National Games in Houston next year. Athletes and guests who make reservations through Anthony Travel receive these benefits and more:
• Exclusive discounted rates at Official 2011 Summer National Senior Games Hotels
• New this year! A daily complimentary breakfast is available at all of the Official Hotels
To make your reservations or for more information, please visit AnthonyTravel.com (search Senior Games) or call (800) 736-6377.
NSGA Briefs
Here’s the latest from the National Senior Games Association. The cycling time trial dates have been moved, and the time trial course has been revised for additional safety. The venue has been changed for track and field, race walk, power walk and archery. The NSGA has announced two demonstration sports for the Summer National Senior Games to be held in Houston next year: 6-on-6 soccer and power walking. Additionally, the NSGA has reduced the fees for softball teams by more than 35% and altered the rules for qualifying for the national games in team sports. Also, the NSGA has provided a video of the venues at the 2011 Summer National Senior Games
HLOC RAVES ABOUT TRACK & FIELD, RACE WALK AND POWER WALK VENUE
The Houston Local Organizing Committee is enthusiastic about the new Track & Field venue for the 2011 Summer National Senior Games – Turner Stadium. Why? Well, it has an eight lane track, a four lane practice track close by, two cages for the discus and hammer throw competitions, two runways for simultaneous pole vaults, and two long jump/triple jump pits as well as a javelin area with a rubber composite runway. It also boasts lots of restrooms, multiple concession locations and plenty of free parking. AND THE WHOLE COMPLEX IS BRAND NEW!
The stadium is only a mile or so from the terminals at Bush International Airport (IAH) and from the nearby hotels. (Anthony Travel will have updated housing information shortly.)
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Archery venue has been changed. Archery will now take place at Reliant Center which is still indoors and air conditioned.
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Need help finding a team/partner? Click here to visit the NSGA team/partner finder.
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Changes to cycling time trial dates
There have been scheduling changes in the 5K & 10K cycling events. Practice for both 5K and 10K is June 19. The 5K competition date is June 20, 2011. The 10K competition date is June 21, 2011. The rain date for both is still June 22. Changes were also made to the time trial course to provide additional safety. More information is available by clicking here.
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Venue change for track and field, race walk and power walk
Uncertainty about future expansion of the Metro Rail system to the University of Houston has caused the University to halt planned resurfacing of the Tom Tellez Track prior to the 2011 Summer National Senior Games presented by Humana, June 16-30 of 2011. As a result, the Houston Local Organizing Committee has been forced to move the Track and Field events, the 1500 meter Race Walk and the 1500 meter Power Walk (a demonstration event) to Turner Stadium in the Humble Independent School District, Humble, TX. The venue is located near Intercontinental Airport. Hotel accommodations near there will be announced soon. Be sure to reserve your rooms through Anthony Travel to get the best rates.
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Demonstration Sports
Houston will conduct two demonstration sports during the 2011 Summer National Senior Games presented by Humana. Soccer 6-on-6 and Power Walking 1500M and 5K. Athletes may not participate in both Race Walk and Power Walk; therefore, they must choose one or the other sport, not both. Complete rules for these demonstration sports are available on the NSGA website under the tab “2011 National Games”. These are open sports so qualifying is not necessary. This is your chance to attend the Games and go for the gold. Go on line at www.nsga.com to register today!
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Two new deadlines
The NSGA has announced two deadlines for the 2011 Summer National Senior Games. “Limited Event” forms for qualifying must be postmarked no later than April 15, 2011. Additionally, the deadline for partner changes is March 31, 2011.
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Changes to softball qualifying, fees
The softball fee was reduced from $1,175 to $750. We’re expecting that an increased number of teams will make the national tournament even more competitive. Each event allows for a specific number of qualifiers. If out-of-state residents qualify at an “open” qualifying games, they will not take away a qualifying spot from a state resident.
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Check out the great venues in Houston
Below is a link to a video of the venues for the 2011 Summer National Senior Games in Houston, Texas. Many events, including badminton, basketball, horseshoes, table tennis, tennis, and volleyball will be held in the air-conditioned George R. Brown Convention Center. Bowling, racquetball and swimming will also be held in air-conditioned venues.
Click here for a video showing Houston venues
State Senior Games Calendar: New Year, New Games
Take a look at the upcoming state senior games listed below. Arizona has the honor of holding the first state senior games next year. Now is the time to start making your plans to compete in your favorite state senior games in 2011.
Feb/March
Arizona Senior Olympics
Phoenix, AZ
