By Colleen A.J. Smith

55+ tournament holds diverse sports for seniors in the Battlefords

Jul 6, 2016 | 3:06 PM

It’s not just the hurling of the javelin and the toss of the discus which makes the 55+ Provincial Games an exciting event, it’s also a place where competitors can come and flex their mental muscles.

The Don Ross Centre was filled with the keen strategists July 6, eager to try their hand at beating opponents in their favourite games of Kaiser, cribbage and scrabble.

The card and game tournaments are just one part of the Saskatchewan Senior Fitness Association’s three-day tournament. The event is held every two years in various regions across the province to challenge the best-of-the-best in both the mental and physical sporting events geared toward the 55+ population.

Ryan Bater, chair of the Battlefords Organizing Committee is a volunteer for the games and also the organizer behind the event.

He said he enjoyed watching contestants try the more traditional sporting events of track and field. But for those who craved a different type of challenge, there was a wide range of sports available for every type of person aimed at the mind.

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“We have a very wide variety of games. We have golf, pickle ball, cribbage, bridge, kaiser, scrabble, as well as track and field,” Bater said.

The organizing committee has managed to produce more sports than ever before for the senior members of the community according to Bater.

“Pickle ball is a new one. It’s a rapidly growing sport,” he said, adding, “The number of pickle ballers who have registered for the game has doubled since we last held the games two years ago. It’s one of the fastest growing sports in the province.”

In keeping with the tradition, the senior’s games will finish up with a ceremony at the end of the third day. Finalists will be honoured with medals in the sport of their specialty.

The Battlefords last hosted the Saskatchewan Senior’s Fitness Association 55+ games in 2002.

Competitions continue July 6 and July 7 at various locations around the Battlefords.

Colleen A.J. Smith is battlefordsNOW’s education, First Nations and arts and culture reporter. She can be reached at colleen.smith@jpbg.ca or tweet her @ColleenAJSmith. Concerns regarding this story can be addressed to News Director Geoff Smith at 306-446-6397.