Plenty of Senior Games activity during October and November
TALLAHASSEE – When the calendar turns to October on Thursday, it begins a 46-day span in which 42 of those days, a Florida Senior Games Series Qualifier event will be taking place.
Only two days in October, the successive Sunday’s of October 4th and 11th, do not have a Florida Senior Games Series Qualifier taking place. In November, it is Sunday the 8th and Friday the 13th, which are void of Florida Senior Games Series Qualifying Events. The majority of these events will happen at the Tampa Bay Senior Games, Jacksonville Senior Games, Gainesville Senior Games, Ormond Beach Senior Games, Port Orange Senior Games and the Cutler Bay Senior Games.
Registration deadlines for the Cutler Bay Senior Games, Port Orange Senior Games and Gainesville Senior Games are quickly approaching. So act now!
With all of this opportunity, are the following excuses reasons prospective 50+ athletes give for not participating in Florida’s Olympic-style Sports Festival for athletes age 50 and over? “I’ve got too much going on. I’m not in good shape. I haven’t competed in that sport for years. I ain’t what I used to be.”
While at times some excuses may be legitimate, consider the circumstances of track and field athlete Adam Goldstein, of Miami, and Mary Northrup, a bowler from Lady Lake.
A gold medal winning athlete in the 1500 meter run at the 2014 Florida Senior Games, 55-year old Adam Goldstein is also the President and COO of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
He was a member of the Princeton Rowing Team in college, but Goldstein’s athletic opportunities were put on hold when a spinal canal tumor was discovered in 1981. After surgery to remove the tumor, he suffered from chronic back pain for 20 years before he began an exercise program, at the urging of another Royal Caribbean executive, who he found in the gym on one of the ships.
Since that day on the ship, he has developed a regular workout schedule that have led him to gold medal-winning performances at the Florida Senior Games, which earned him the opportunity to compete in the 2015 National Senior Games, in Minnesota over the summer. Two weeks after the National Senior Games he clocked a time of 5:07 in the 1500 meter run at the USATF Masters Championships in Jacksonville, which was three seconds under the 55-59 All-America Standard.
“I’m very happy about that,” he admitted.
Besides his competition in the Florida Senior Games, Goldstein is on a quest to encourage other business executives to embrace an active and healthy lifestyle.
“I’m sure there are other competitors leading very busy lives,” Goldstein says. “I have looked high and low without finding another large company senior executive trying to compete at this level in senior track & field. The balancing is a challenge but I am very committed.”
Mary Northrup, of The Villages, has bowled in the last six Florida Senior Games, in the 80-84 and 85-89 age groups, and has won numerous medals. But she never saw her ball roll down the lane to make any of the pins fall. Mary Northrup is legally blind.
Between her gold medal winning performance at the 2014 Florida Senior Games and the 2015 National Senior Games, the legally blind bowler has heard the unmistakable sound of the ball knocking over thousands of pins
Northrup’s loss of vision started in 1997 due to macular degeneration. She refused to let this stop her from her love for bowling. Through the support of friends and personal determination, she continued to practice and find new techniques in order to successfully bowl. Now, Northrup judges her distance from the gutter over and since she cannot see the impact of the ball to pins, she uses her other senses such as sound.
“In The Villages, I’ve got plenty of opportunity for social bowling to roll a few games and spend time with good friends,” Northrup said of her hobby and passion.
If Adam Goldstein can lead the world’s second-largest cruise line and find the time to train for national events and if Mary Northrup can overcome the loss of eyesight to bowl with friends and travel to Minnesota for national competitions, how do those excuses sound now?
Consider registration in one of six remaining Florida Senior Games Series Qualifiers taking place between now and November. The registration deadline for the Cutler Bay Senior Games is today and the final day to register for the Port Orange Senior Games is Friday, October 2. Visit www.port-orange.org/parks/ for a registration packet. Athletes wishing to participate in the Gainesville Senior Games should keep an eye on the various sports offered. Registration deadlines are listed for “one week prior to competition,” and can be found at www.gainesvillesportscommission.com.
See the list below for dates, sports and registration deadlines of the upcoming Series Qualifiers
Jacksonville Senior Games – October 2-10
Sports and Events Offered: Bowling, Croquet, Cycling, Golf, Pickleball, Powerlifting, Road Race, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Track and Field
Registration is closed
Gainesville Senior Games – October 3-18
Sports and Events Offered: Archery, 3-on-3 Basketball, Basketball Shooting, Billiards, Bowling, Cycling, Golf, 5K Road Race, Swimming, Table Tennis, Track and Field
Registration Deadline – Varies – One week before scheduled event.
Port Orange Senior Games – October 12-18
Sports and Events Offered: 3-on-3 Basketball, Basketball Shooting, Golf, Horseshoes, Pickleball, Racquetball, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Chair Volleyball, Wii Bowling
Registration Deadline – October 2
Cutler Bay Senior Games – October 13-24
Sports and Events Offered: Basketball Shooting, Billiards, Bowling, Horseshoes, Pickleball, Shuffleboard, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis
Registration Deadline – September 29
Ormond Beach Senior Games – October 24-31
Sports and Events Offered: Bag Toss, Ballroom Dancing, Basketball Shooting, Billiards, Bocce, Bowling, Golf, Horseshoes, Pickleball, Racquetball, 5K Road Race, Shuffleboard, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Track and Field
Registration Deadline – October 7
Martin County Senior Games – October 31 – November 9
Sports and Events Offered: Basketball Shooting, Bowling, Cycling, Golf, Horseshoes, Pickleball, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Track and Field
Good Life Games Golf Qualifier (Pinellas County) – November 2
Registration Deadline – October 15
Golden Age Games (Sanford) – November 7-14
Sports and Events Offered: Archery, Basketball Shooting, Bowling, Golf, Horseshoes, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Track and Field
Registration Deadline – October 23
Good Life Games Cycling Qualifier (Pinellas County) – November 14-15
