The Long Run – November 2016
Association News
NSGA Names Health and Wellness Manager
Andrew M. Walker has joined NSGA as the first-ever Health and Wellness Manager, underscoring our commitment to advocate healthy, active lifestyles for people 50 and over. He will serve as staff liaison to the NSGA Foundation and Member organizations, manage partnerships with like-minded organizations, and will assist with selecting content for our newsletter and website.
Walker’s professional experience spans more than two decades and includes serving as a corporate wellness manager for AT&T, and as a consultant starting and managing evidence based wellness programs, most notably statewide programs for the Georgia Municipal Association and Georgia Association of County Commissioners. Walker has also taught at college and public school levels.
“Andrew has a broad base of experience as an innovative health promotion and wellness professional,” said NSGA CEO Marc T. Riker. “With his addition to our staff, NSGA’s advocacy is entering a new and more productive era.”
Walker was a four-year track letterman at the University of Florida, and has become a dedicated practitioner of Tai Chi who is certified to teach its benefits in arthritis and falls prevention. “My career has been committed to positively impacting the health of individuals, organizations and communities,” Walker said. “I’m excited with this opportunity to grow NSGA’s national outreach efforts, and to hopefully inspire more seniors to get moving and stay active.”
Game On!
2017 Registration Underway
Registration for the 2017 National Senior Games presented by Humana has now begun! Here’s a few reminders about the process and related information for athletes:
- When you can register- Qualified Athletes can register for the 2017 Games when the state(s) they qualified in are listed on the registration page at NSGA.com. States are listed as soon as all their results are submitted to NSGA and verified. When the results have been uploaded, NSGA will send an information e-blast to those qualified athletes. NSGA will also send out one postcard by mail to their address of NSGA record with the same notification. Early registration will end February 28th, with the final registration deadline being April 2nd.
- Online Travel and Lodging Page- Make your travel plans and hotel reservations on the Travel and Lodging page.Find the best lodging nearest to where you want to be! National Travel Systems (NTS), our experienced Official Housing/Travel Partner, has worked hard to negotiate the best hotels and rates, as well as setting up air and car rental discounts. The site will be constantly updated with the latest information and best deals.
- Sport Schedules are now posted- All sports schedules are now available to view and download on the Competition Schedule page.
Last Chance Qualifying – The Florida Senior Games in December will still take online registration for all offered sports until Friday, November 18. The California Encore Games are winding down, and the only remaining sport you can still register for is badminton with an online deadline of November 28. Click on the links for more information.
2017 Venue Snapshot: CrossPlex Hosts Swimming and Volleyball
The Birmingham CrossPlex is a 750,000 square foot, multi-purpose athletic and meeting complex located just ten minutes west of the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center, which is the Hub of activities for The Games. This world-class facility, built by the City of Birmingham at a cost of $46 million, will host swimming and volleyball for The Games. Parking is plentiful and attendees will find all the amenities they would want for an enjoyable and comfortable visit.
Since its opening in 2011, the CrossPlex has been in high demand and maintains a busy schedule, including championship events for the NCAA Division I and II and seven college conferences, plus state and local high school contests and myriad other meets and championships in more than eight sports.
The natatorium side features a 50-meter indoor Olympic swimming pool designed by Counsilman-Hunsaker, full-size locker rooms and showers for both men and women, plus a first aid room and a meet management/multi-purpose classroom. There’s room for up to 1,300 spectators in the stands and on the deck. There’s also a large digital multi-screen display board.
For volleyball, the CrossPlex will have 11 volleyball courts in their main gym, which are Mondosport Performance flooring. Plus three additional courts in the connected arena for a total of 14. Athletes will enjoy this venue.
“Surprising Birmingham” Feature
Frankly, people should not be surprised at finding appealing locations in Birmingham, but recently the popular website Great American Country listed “12 Appealing Sites in Alabama” and devoted several selections to the city, saying they found some surprises there. They mention “forward-thinking art galleries” and say Birmingham is dripping with Southern charm. That’s not surprising to those familiar with the city.
Other places they were taken with included Railroad Park, where “the entire downtown area has been revitalized, showing how progressive this city truly is.” They also were surprised to find the world’s largest collection of vintage motorcycles and Lotus cars at Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. View the gallery here.
HUMANA Heroes: Athlete of the Month
At Your Service
Carroll Marty has found the key to happiness and longevity, and it’s the same for all senior athletes: just keep moving. However, the 82-year-old has taken it to a level where it’s hard to keep up withthe Iowa native and longtime resident of Ames.
It’s not that he’s been a lifelong competitive athlete; that really began 30 years ago when he entered his first all-ages Iowa Games, and in the Iowa Senior Games when they were created two years later. He hasn’t missed a year of competing in badminton, racquetball, track and other sports in his home state games. He’s visited games in neighboring states-we found him helping tape down badminton courts at the Minnesota Senior Games in 2014-and he has brought home several medals from his treks to nine National Senior Games starting in 1995.
Carroll’s distinguishing characteristic is that he likes to stay active by volunteering to help others and improve life in his community. “I’ve always been this way, probably more so since I retired in 2000 after selling insurance for 35 years,” he observes. “I’m a handyman and always doing something, whether it’s for the Iowa Games, Iowa Senior Games or with my Kiwanis Club. A lot of my volunteer work involves light construction, welding and building things. I like to work and accomplish things.”
His contributions are appreciated. He built the disc golf course in Ames, and in gratitude the city named it after him. Carrollhas constructed and painted more than 40 award stand blocks, a climbing wall, a torch holder, and even built a loft in the warehouse attached to the state game’s office, among other tasks. “Carroll is always a guy we can count on,” says Kevin Bourke, COO of the Iowa Sports Foundation.
Because of his steady athletic participation for multiple sports, and service as a volunteer and event director, he was inducted into the Iowa Senior Games Hall of Fame in 2013. He was also honored as the Iowa Games Athlete of the Year and the National Congress of State Games Male Athlete of the Year in 2012.
Carroll’s athletic pursuits have also inspired his own family. In 2014, his wife and all of their children and spouses-one dozen strong-participated in Iowa Senior Games as an early celebration for his 80th birthday. “Everybody got a medal, and we even set some records,” he recalls. “We had a great time.”
Badminton and racquetball are now his main sports, and he is the current badminton director for the Iowa Senior Games. “So many people in the United States don’t know what badminton really is. They think you’re in the backyard dinking a birdie back and forth, but it’s really the fastest racquet sport. I’m told good players can hit it over 200 miles per hour coming off the racquet. Not me, but I can hit it pretty hard once in awhile.”
The bottom line is simple for Carroll. “This activity keeps me healthy,” he says. “If you don’t do stuff, you lose your muscle tone and get flabby. Then you have all kinds of problems. I enjoy doing all of this.”
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!
Senior Health and Wellness
Delaware Personal Best Visit Celebrates Fitness, Fun and Fellowship
NSGA attended the Delaware Senior Olympics annual awards luncheon on November 5 to recognize 77-year-old Georgia Billger as our final Personal Best athlete of 2016. CEO Marc T. Riker was also the keynote speaker at the event and shared information about the 2017 Games and plans for celebrating our 30th anniversary at the congenial gathering.
Billger, who has participated in state and national games for 16 years, was recognized not only for her active involvement, but also as an inspiration for persevering through heart and abdominal surgeries to continue to participate in DSO and the National Senior Games. As her Personal Best profile “Heart and Soul” relates, she was a tennis prodigy as a teen, and then found pickleball as a senior and has helped recruit others to join in the active fun. She also served as the state’s pickleball co-coordinator for three years.
Delaware may be a small state, but they were big on enthusiasm. Don’t miss checking out our Personal Best blog for fun photos and stories about the athletes we met in Dover.
Share Your Memories of The Games
We need more of your memories! Tell us your favorite story, from funny to inspirational, from your participation in past National Senior Games. The simple online form offers several ideas for the type of brief messages we would love to share with others during 2017. You can also email us a photo to go with your story.
“Memories of the Games” Online Form
NSGA Online Merchandise Store
Pssst! Santa! I want Senior Games Gear!
Thanksgiving is around the corner, and that means holiday gift-giving season is upon us. Your spouse, children and friends can never figure out what to get you, so you need to take charge if you want to unwrap more than new socks or a motorized back scratcher. Start dropping hints that you want NSGA gear with the 2017 National Senior Games presented by Humana logo to put you in the proper mood to go to Birmingham next June!
It’s easy to order wearables with 2017 Games and other motivational images and logos at our online store. Simply click on either the NSGA or 2017 logo to find the various apparel types, then click “Personalize” to position and add the artwork you want onto your selection.
The Official NSGA Store at NSGA.com
- Published in Newsletter
Tucson Proclaims “National Senior Games Day”
TUCSON, Arizona (November 14, 2016)- The mayor of Tucson proclaimed this day “National Senior Games Day” to help welcome visitors from the National Senior Games Association to the “Old Pueblo City.”
Mayor Jonathan Rothschild issued the proclamation to commemorate the visit by an NSGA team to capture interviews with key local organizers of the 1997 National Senior Games (then called the National Senior Sports Classic) as part of a planned video mini-documentary. 2017 will mark the 30th Anniversary of the biennial National Senior Games, the largest multi-sport championship event in the world for people 50 and over.
The documentary will recount the formation, development and growth of the “Senior Games Movement” since the first national games were held in St. Louis in 1987. The event has moved to a different U.S. city every two years, and the 2017 National Senior Games presented by Humana will be held next June 2-15 in Birmingham, Alabama.
“Tucson hosted us at the close of our first decade, and it represented the first of our events to reach participation by more than 10,000 senior athletes,” NSGA CEO Marc T. Riker explained. “We’ve heard many positive comments from athletes about how well things went in Tucson, so it made a logical choice for us to meet with some of the organizers and ‘dig deeper’ as part of recounting our history.”
Prior to the afternoon mayoral presentation, several key organizers of the 1997 Games, led by the local host organization board chair James Ronstadt, gathered at the Randolph Golf Course Clubhouse to share memories for the video camera, and to then have a “reunion” lunch to celebrate their accomplishments.
Besides Ronstadt, who was director of Tucson Parks and Recreation in 1997, attendees included: Peggy Weber, Margot Hurst and Rennie Ochoa, also with the parks and recreation department; Susan Mason with the University of Arizona; Paul Marsh, former county supervisor, and Irene Stillwell, longtime executive director of the Arizona Senior Olympics. Stillwell also played a role in both the formation of the first national games and with bringing the 1997 event to Tucson. Visit Tucson CEO Brent DeRaad also joined the gathering.
“It was great to have this gathering,” Ronstadt commented. “We all had a great time putting everything together back then. It was a unified community effort involving the city, county, the University of Arizona, and all of the corporate sponsors and volunteers that helped make it a success.”
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Contact:
Del Moon, NSGA Communications and Media
225.202.5719
- Published in Press Releases
“At Your Service” – November 2016 Athlete of the Month
Carroll Marty, 82, Ames, Iowa
Carroll Marty has found the key to happiness and longevity, and it’s the same for all senior athletes: just keep moving. However, the 82-year-old has taken it to a level where it’s hard to keep up with the Iowa native and longtime resident of Ames.
It’s not that he’s been a lifelong competitive athlete; that really began 30 years ago when he entered his first all-ages Iowa Games, and in the Iowa Senior Games when they were created two years later. He hasn’t missed a year of competing in badminton, racquetball, track and other sports in his home state games. He’s visited games in neighboring states-we found him helping tape down badminton courts at the Minnesota Senior Games in 2014-and he has brought home several medals from his treks to nine National Senior Games starting in 1995.
Carroll’s distinguishing characteristic is that he likes to stay active by volunteering to help others and improve life in his community. “I’ve always been this way, probably more so since I retired in 2000 after selling insurance for 35 years,” he observes. “I’m a handyman and always doing something, whether it’s for the Iowa Games, Iowa Senior Games or with my Kiwanis Club. A lot of my volunteer work involves light construction, welding and building things. I like to work and accomplish things.”
His contributions are appreciated. He built the disc golf course in Ames, and in gratitude the city named it after him. Carroll has constructed and painted more than 40 award stand blocks, a climbing wall, a torch holder, and even built a loft in the warehouse attached to state game’s office, among other tasks. “Carroll is always a guy we can count on,” says Kevin Bourke, COO of the Iowa Sports Foundation.
Because of his steady athletic participation for multiple sports, and service as a volunteer and event director, he was inducted into the Iowa Senior Games Hall of Fame in 2013. He was also honored as the Iowa Games Athlete of the Year and the National Congress of State Games Male Athlete of the Year in 2012.
Carroll’s athletic pursuits have also inspired his own family. In 2014, his wife and all of their children and spouses-one dozen strong-participated in Iowa Senior Games as an early celebration for his 80th birthday. “Everybody got a medal, and we even set some records,” he recalls. “We had a great time.”
Badminton and racquetball are now his main sports, and he is the current badminton director for the Iowa Senior Games. “So many people in the United States don’t know what badminton really is. They think you’re in the backyard dinking a birdie back and forth, but it’s really the fastest racquet sport. I’m told good players can hit it over 200 miles per hour coming off the racquet. Not me, but I can hit it pretty hard once in awhile.” 
The bottom line is simple for Carroll. “This activity keeps me healthy,” he says. “If you don’t do stuff, you lose your muscle tone and get flabby. Then you have all kinds of problems. I enjoy doing all of this.”
- Published in Athlete of the Month
NSGA Names Andrew M. Walker as Health and Wellness Manager
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – The National Senior Games Association (NSGA) has named Andrew M. Walker as the organization’s first-ever Health and Wellness Manager, underscoring the commitment by NSGA to advance its core mission to advocate healthy, active lifestyles for people 50 and over.
Walker earned a B.S. in health education from the University of Florida, and a master’s degree in public health from the University of South Florida. His professional experience spans more than two decades and includes serving as a corporate wellness manager for AT&T, and as health promotion coordinator, managing evidence based wellness programs, most notably statewide programs for the Georgia Municipal Association and the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia. Walker has also taught college health courses and worked in public health as a senior services and injury prevention specialist.
As NSGA’s health and wellness manager, Walker will serve as staff liaison to organization Members and the NSGA Foundation, manage partnerships with like-minded organizations advocating senior fitness, and will assist with selecting relevant and informative content to share in NSGA’s monthly e-newsletter and on the NSGA.com website.
“Andrew has a broad base of experience and has demonstrated himself to be an innovative health promotion and wellness professional,” said NSGA CEO Marc T. Riker. “While our primary activity is to stage the National Senior Games and to ensure our 53 Members host quality qualifying games for seniors across the country, we also feel a strong responsibility to honor our mission to promote fitness to all aging individuals. With the addition of Andrew to our staff, our advocacy is entering a new and more productive era for NSGA.”
Walker, who excelled as a high school All American and four-year letterman in track and field at the University of Florida, has become a dedicated practitioner of Tai Chi and is certified to teach its benefits in arthritis and falls prevention. “My career has been committed to positively impacting the health of individuals, organizations and communities,” Walker said. “I’m excited with this opportunity to grow NSGA’s national outreach efforts and to hopefully inspire more seniors to get moving and stay active.”
The National Senior Games Association (NSGA) is a nonprofit Multi-Sports Council member of the United States Olympic Committee that promotes health and wellness for adults 50 and over through education, fitness and sport. NSGA governs the biennial National Senior Games, the largest qualified multi-sport event in the world for seniors. NSGA is comprised of 53 Member Games across the country and in Canada that conduct multi-sport competitions which serve as qualifying events for the National Senior Games. The 2017 National Senior Games presented by Humana will be held in Birmingham, Alabama from June 2-15, 2017. For more information, please visit www.NSGA.com.
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Contact:
Del Moon, NSGA Communications and Media
225.202.5719
NSGA Media Contact:
Del Moon, NSGA Communications and Media Director
225.202.5719
- Published in News and Events, Press Releases
Delaware Senior Athlete Receives National Award
Three Others Given State Recognition at Delaware Senior Olympics Annual Luncheon
Georgia Billger was presented a Personal Best Award by National Senior Games Association CEO Marc T. Riker (left), along with Delaware Senior Olympics President Paul Gatti.
DOVER, Delaware– The CEO of the National Senior Games Association (NSGA) came to the Delaware Senior Olympics (DSO) annual awards luncheon on November 5 to present its Personal Best Award to 77-year-old Georgia Billger of Rehoboth Beach. NSGA CEO Marc T. Riker was also the keynote speaker at the event, which was held at the Modern Maturity Center in Dover.
Billger, who has participated in state and national games for 16 years, was recognized not only for her active involvement, but also as an inspiration for persevering through heart and abdominal surgeries to continue to participate in DSO and the National Senior Games. A tennis prodigy as a teen, Billger found the rapidly-growing sport of pickleball as a senior and has helped recruit others to join in the active fun. She also served as the state’s pickleball co-coordinator for three years.
Since 2013, NSGA’s Personal Best program has profiled athletes with wide-ranging stories that inspire and motivate people to pursue healthy, active lifestyles. Billger plans to compete in pickleball at the 2017 National Senior Games presented by Humana next June 2-15 in Birmingham, Alabama.
An in-depth interview feature about Billger and other athletes can be found on the Personal Best page at NSGA.com. “This recognition program is designed to send a message out to aging adults to ‘get in the game’ and get the most out of their lives,” said Riker. “While we selected Georgia to feature, we know all senior athletes demonstrate that everyone can be their own personal best.”
Three other athletes received annual DSO awards at the gathering: Bonnie Strang, Outstanding Athlete; Lynn Casey, Charlie Marten Memorial Award, and Ed Gawinski, Ray Wrede Lifetime Achievement Award.
NSGA is a nonprofit member of the United States Olympic Committee that promotes health and wellness for adults 50 and over through education, fitness and sport. NSGA governs the biennial National Senior Games and sanctions 53 member organizations across the country and Canada that host qualifying Senior Games or Senior Olympics to provide seniors with quality sports activity.
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CONTACT:
Regional Media Contact:
Paul Gatti, President, Delaware Senior Olympics (302) 736-5698 / cg*****@*******nk.net
NSGA Media Director:
Del Moon (678) 549-4444 / Dm***@**GA.com
- Published in Press Releases
Dover, Delaware
Personal Best Tour – November 5, 2016, Dover, Delaware
NSGA’s visit to the Delaware Senior Olympics annual award luncheon could not have been better timed. DSO just completed its 25th anniversary games and wanted to do something special for this year’s gathering. So, in addition to presenting a Personal Best Award to 77-year-old Georgia Billger (read feature here), CEO Marc T. Riker was invited to be the keynote speaker and talked at length about preparations for the 2017 National Senior Games presented by Humana, plans for celebrating our own 30th anniversary during The Games in Birmingham, and NSGA’s growing efforts to advocate senior health and wellness.
Georgia Billger is no stranger to her athlete peers, both for her longtime participation and for having been a previous recipient DSO’s Charlie Marten Award, which recognizes perseverance and dedication to fitness much like our Personal Best program. One distinguishing characteristic of “The First State” is that Delaware is small enough that everybody seems to treat each other as neighbors. Marc and Media Director Del Moon were welcomed in the same congenial spirit.
Georgia Billger humbly accepts recognition by NSGA CEO Marc T. Riker, joined by a proud Delaware Senior Olympics President Paul Gatti (right).
Marc also lauded the excellence of Delaware Senior Olympics, noting their longtime wellness programs such as Walk Delaware, in which participants keep a log and walk, run, bike or swim the equivalent of the combined length and width of the state in one year. As evidenced from the annual results announced by board member Peggy Olivero, many far exceeded the required 131 miles.
Three other athletes received well-deserved recognition by DSO: (left to right) Bonnie Strang, Outstanding Athlete; Lynn Casey, Charlie Marten Award, and Ed Gawinski, Ray Wrede Lifetime Achievement Award.
He also credited DSO with lending NSGA a phrase we often use that they have promoted for some time: “Fitness, Fun and Fellowship.” The program amply covered the “fitness” and “fellowship” portion, so afterwards we decided to have some “fun,” as evidenced in the following photos:
(Left) We were honored to shake the hand of Hugh Horning, the man who created the term “Fitness, Fun and Fellowship” and contributed much to DSO through the years. No one has come up with a better phrase that captures the spirit of The Games!
(Right) Bonnie Strang has 98 gold medals from playing badminton, pickleball and softball, but her first love is softball. On a whimsical suggestion, Bonnie “stood in the box” using her award as a bat, with Marc as catcher and Del as umpire.
(Left) Bonnie also introduced us to Harriet Mair, the person who first told her about Senior Games when they were playing together in a community orchestra. Of course, the fun escalated when we asked them to reenact the meeting with their “air instruments”- Harriet on the oboe, Bonnie on the trumpet!
(Right) Stay with us here: We found out that the amazing Marion Lisehora, the woman with lifelong perfect health mentioned by Georgia in her feature, was once a rider in the famous diving horse show at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City back in the 50s! She emphasized that no horse was ever injured in the decades of the show, and that her horse couldn’t wait to jump in the water on hot summer days. Of course, Marc insisted that her feat be re-enacted and volunteered to be the horse for the photo. Watch for Marion to be a story feature down the road.
(Left) In the Personal Best story, Georgia mentioned going to other states to help athletes qualify for doubles play in pickleball, and that in each case they won gold. Three of the women she helped made the drive from outside Delaware to come witness Georgia’s recognition. Pictured are Delia Wan, Melissa Milar and Robbin Murray with Georgia.
(Right) Retired librarian-turned-triathlete Marie Neaves was featured as NSGA’s Athlete of the Month for May, 2013. The banquet provided the opportunity for Marie and Del, who wrote the story, to have a happy reunion.
Thanks again to the staff, volunteers and athletes we met at the luncheon held at the impressive Modern Maturity Center in Dover. Small state, enormous spirit!
- Published in Personal Best Tour Blogs