Enthusiastic participation in SSFA 55+ games

NORTH BATTLEFORD — Eric Johnson, president of promotions, public relations and communications for the Saskatchewan Seniors’ Fitness Association 55+ games, sees the three-day competition as another success story for the Battlefords event.

The games included 537 participants. This year’s event also included 40 contributors in the poetry and short story categories, as well as photography. Including the curling event held earlier in March, which had a total of 647 participants for the 2024 games.

Events in the provincial competition from June 11-13 included eight-ball, cribbage, bowling, golf, March curling, Kaiser, pickleball, bowling, slo-pitch, swimming and track and field.

The Saskatoon Sports District had the most competitors with 157, followed by Rivers West District, the host district. There were 148 competitors from the communities that make up Rivers West.

An interesting note from the games was that pickleball had the most participants overall with 144, followed by golf with 94 participants.

“The unique role of the SSFA and the 55+ games is the opportunity for physical and recreational activities. Participants come from different parts of the province to compete, renew friendships and usually end up making new friends. These games not only support and promote an active and healthy lifestyle, but also provide a framework that focuses on social, physical and intellectual opportunities, regardless of age or ability, whether a participant or a volunteer. These participants are excellent role models in demonstrating an active life. Seniors are no exception: they like to test their skills in competition.” Margaret Gailing, president of the SSFA, as quoted on the organization’s website.

Johnson also expressed his appreciation to the 150 volunteers who helped create unforgettable experiences and ensured all events ran smoothly.

“With the large volunteer contingent, the community support was excellent. The volunteers were involved in a range of tasks including registration, transporting participants, medical support, refereeing and umpires, scoring and a number of other tasks. Each event had a local event coordinator who was responsible for the organisation and planning of the event and ensuring that the event ran smoothly,” Johnson said.

The event coordinators were: five-pin bowling – Rick Cooper, cribbage – Al White, eight-ball – Mark Danczak, golf – Lloyd Hartl, Kaiser – Thomas Schwab, lawn bowling – Jo Urquhart, photography – Leah Garven, pickleball – Ed Iwanchuk, poetry and short story writing – Sheila Gabert, slo-pitch – Myron Cooper, swimming – Sheila Johnson, and track and field – Karen Wharington.

“The coordinators did an excellent job and all events ran without any major problems.”

The oldest male competitor was Doug Ferguson from Stewart Valley (South West District). He is 93 years old and competed in five-pin bowling. The oldest female participant was Stella Ewanchuk of North Battleford. She is 92 years old and competed in the Kaiser event. Stella and her playing partner, Margaret Kemp, won the silver medal for Kaiser.

The Games Organising Committee confirmed: “The reception from the community was excellent. We received a lot of positive feedback from the community about how well the event went. The participants also gave very positive feedback about the event, praising the quality of the facilities and the dedication and enthusiasm of the volunteers. The Games received tremendous support from the business community and from both the City of North Battleford and Town of Battleford councils.”

Rivers West District, featuring athletes from the Battlefords and surrounding area, took home a number of medals. Johnson says gold medalists are eligible to compete in the national championships to be held in Quebec City in August. Two Rivers West curling teams in the 55+ and 65+ categories have earned national spots and have declared they will compete. Team Verhoeven and Team Scheible travel to Quebec.

All medal winners in each event will be published on the website: https://www.ssfa55gameshost.ca/.