The Long Run – October 2014
Association NewsNSGA Prominently Featured in 2014 President’s Council Annual Meeting
The Senior Games Movement received significant attention at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, held last month in Washington, DC. The four hour gathering, streamed online and facilitated by PCFSN Co-Chair and Olympic gymnastics legend Dominique Dawes, featured a roundtable discussion on active aging, and NSGA was asked to assist in the preparation.
National Senior Games gold medalist swimmer and 2013 Personal Best athlete John Tatum (shown above) captivated the audience with his life story and advice for everyone to ‘just do something…fitness is the thing.” NSGA CEO Marc T. Riker attended the meeting and appeared in our NSGA spotlight video, which was shown to attendees and online viewers and received an enthusiastic ovation.
PCFSN Executive Director Shellie Pfohl recounted her visit to the 2013 National Senior Games Presented by Humana, describing the experience as “life changing, especially from an intergenerational point of view. It was inspiring to see children and grandchildren out there cheering for Grandpa and Grandma.” Council members provided thoughts and ideas to help steer the Council in its increasing attention to senior fitness. “We’re very pleased that our outreach to the Council last year has resulted in this growing partnership and greater exposure for the Senior Games Movement,” Riker said. |
Game On!2015 Registration Begins Mid-November You’ve trained hard and competed well to qualify. Now get ready to go online and register to go to Minnesota next July for the 2015 National Senior Games presented by Humana! Here’s what happens next: Registration information will be available mid-November. Qualified Athletes will be able to register for the 2015 Games when the state(s) they qualified in are listed on the NSGA website. States are listed when all of their results are submitted to NSGA and verified. In addition, NSGA will send out one postcard by mail with the same notification. Information about online registration will be shared in these communications. NSGA is also pleased to announce we will again offer an Early Registration discount for athletes who complete their registration by the February 28, 2015 deadline. Save by signing up early!
Sports Offered and Remaining Qualifying Games In addition to 19 medal sports (Archery, Badminton, Basketball, Bowling, Cycling, Golf, Horseshoes, Pickleball, Race Walk, Racquetball, Road Race, Shuffleboard, Softball, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Track & Field, Triathlon and Volleyball), remember to tell others about our other sport offerings. For the first time, medal competition will be offered in non-ambulatory divisions for Bowling, Horseshoes and Shuffleboard. Demonstration sports will include Baseball, Disc Golf, and Judo. Visit our Sports Page for details. While qualifying events are almost completed, November will see action in California and Hawaii, and our final 2015 qualifier will be the Florida International Senior Games in December. Don’t miss out! Visit our State Registration Information for game links.
Minnesota’s Road Warriors
Members of the Minnesota host committee for the 2015 Games have joined the NSGA team in criss-crossing the country to tell athletes about all the great things they will find inBloomington, Minneapolis and St. Paul when they come to compete next July 3-16. “Our team has traveled to eight states and loved every minute of the journey,” said Executive Director Beth Pinkney. “The athletes are phenomenal and we’re glad so many of them are excited about visiting us. We promise they won’t be disappointed!” We are grateful to Beth, Tom, Calida Cogan, Kevin Maloney, and Dave Mona for helping to get the message out. |
HUMANA Heroes: Athlete of the MonthIsabelle’s Relay
One of our National Senior Games athletes is best known as a member of an Olympic track relay team that won a Bronze Medal. Taken at full perspective, 77 year old Isabelle Daniels Holston’s entire life can be viewed as one big relay fueled by an Olympic spirit. First Leg: Isabelle Daniels grew up in rural Georgia during segregation where the challenges were many. “We only had old textbooks in school, and had to use hand-me-down athletic uniforms in my high school basketball team. It hurt in my heart, but we made the best we could do with what we had.” However, her athletic gift was noticed and a path was opened. “I always did well running against girls from other schools. Mr. Ed Temple, the track coach at Tennessee State University, saw me at the 1954 Tuskegee Institute Relays for high school students and invited me to try out for a work aid athletic scholarship at TSU, which I won,” she recalls. “There were several talented girls on my track team like Mae Faggs, who made the 1956 Olympic team with me and had already competed in 1948 and 1952. We were the first TSU team to win the outdoor nationals in 1955. That same year three of us made it to the Pan American Games.” Second Leg: Isabelle realized her dream by making the U.S. track team and competed in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. She narrowly missed a medal placing fourth in the 100 meter dash, but earned a Bronze Medal in the 4 x 100 meter relays. “I was actually the anchor on that relay. Mae Faggs ran the first leg, Margaret Matthews went second, and Wilma Rudolph ran third and handed me the baton for the anchor. Wilma was still in high school at that time.” Third Leg: Returning to Georgia, Isabelle enjoyed a 35 year career as a health and physical education teacher, coaching girls’ basketball and track. Along the way, she earned numerous state, regional and national coaching awards. “I tried to do what I was taught to do. Our motto at Tennessee State was ‘enter to learn, go forth to serve.’ Coach Temple taught us to respect God first, yourself next, and then respect others. He then taught the fundamentals of how to run and develop a championship mentality,” she notes. “I’ve always passed that on and told my students to always do their very best. I’ve had teams win county and state championships. Some of those girls got scholarships.” Anchor Leg (Ongoing): 12 years ago, Isabelle Daniels Holston became a senior athlete at the coaxing of Linda Lowery, a younger runner with National Senior Games experience. “I’ve been going to Nationals since 2007. I missed the 2013 games due to a death in my family, but I’m planning on going to Minnesota next year with my husband. I haven’t won any medals, but it’s just such a joy to go participate and to meet people there.”
We’re always looking for great athlete stories. Submit yours or nominate a fellow athlete who inspires you at our Athlete of the Month page at NSGA.com!
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Senior Health and WellnessAquatics Is For Everyone At the 2014 annual meeting of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, we were pleased to be in attendance as Jane Katz was honored as one of PCFSN’s 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award winners. Her athletic achievements began with the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo as a member of the synchronized swimming performance team, and her career as a Masters competitive, long-distance, synchronized and fin swimmer has earned All-American and World Masters championships. Katz also holds three National Senior Games Top Ten Performance swim records from her participation in the 2009 National Senior Games Presented by Humana. Katz, who earned her doctorate degree in Gerontology and Geriatrics from Columbia University, has been recognized as an educator, aquatics innovator and author. She has taughtwater fitness to thousands of students at the City University of New York since 1964, and at John Jay College since 1989. She has authored 14 books on swimming, fitness, and water exercise. We asked her to share some points about the benefits of aquatic activity as part of an active lifestyle for everyone, and as a cross-training option for senior athletes. CLICK HERE TO READ her interesting perspective. |
NSGA Online Merchandise StoreAre You “Gettin’ Fit for 2015?” Show it!
C’mon. You know you want one. Time to your your very own “Gettin’ Fit for 2015” T shirt sporting the logo for the 2015 National Senior Games Presented by Humana. While you are visiting The NSGA Store online, you can also select NSGA images to place on a high quality tee shirt, hat, windbreaker, hoodie or long sleeve tee shirt in your choice of color and graphic.
Visit The NSGA Store at NSGA.com to get yours. |
- Published in Newsletter
“Isabelle’s Relay” – October 2014 Athlete of the Month
Isabelle Daniels Holston, 77, Decatur, Georgia
One of our National Senior Games athletes is best known as a member of an Olympic track relay team that won a Bronze Medal. Taken at full perspective, 77 year old Isabelle Daniels Holston’s entire life can be viewed as one big relay fueled by an Olympic spirit.
First Leg: Isabelle Daniels grew up in rural Georgia during segregation where the challenges were many. “We only had old textbooks in school, and had to use hand-me-down athletic uniforms in my high school basketball team. It hurt in my heart, but we made the best we could do with what we had.”
However, her athletic gift was noticed and a path was opened. “I always did well running against girls from other schools. Mr. Ed Temple, the track coach at Tennessee State University, saw me at the 1954 Tuskegee Institute Relays for high school students and invited me to try out for a work aid athletic scholarship at TSU, which I won,” she recalls. “There were several talented girls on my track team like Mae Faggs, who made the 1956 Olympic team with me and had already competed in 1948 and 1952. We were the first TSU team to win the outdoor nationals in 1955. That same year three of us made it to the Pan American Games.”
Second Leg: Isabelle realized her dream by making the U.S. track team and competed in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. She narrowly missed a medal placing fourth in the 100 meter dash, but earned a Bronze Medal in the 4 x 100 meter relays. “I was actually the anchor on that relay. Mae Faggs ran the first leg, Margaret Matthews went second, and Wilma Rudolph ran third and handed me the baton for the anchor. Wilma was still in high school at that time.”
Third Leg: Returning to Georgia, Isabelle enjoyed a 35 year career as a health and physical education teacher, coaching girls’ basketball and track. Along the way, she earned numerous state, regional and national coaching awards. “I tried to do what I was taught to do. Our motto at Tennessee State was ‘enter to learn, go forth to serve.’ Coach Temple taught us to respect God first, yourself next, and then respect others. He then taught the fundamentals of how to run and develop a championship mentality,” she notes. “I’ve always passed that on and told my students to always do their very best. I’ve had teams win county and state championships. Some of those girls got scholarships.”
Anchor Leg (Ongoing): 12 years ago, Isabelle Daniels Holston became a senior athlete at the coaxing of Linda Lowery, a younger runner with National Senior Games experience. “I’ve been going to Nationals since 2007. I missed the 2013 games due to a death in my family, but I’m planning on going to Minnesota next year with my husband. I haven’t won any medals, but it’s just such a joy to go participate and to meet people there.”
- Published in Athlete of the Month