“We just want to get as many people qualified as we can to send to the national games,” said Ed Roberts, president of the Texas Senior Games Association.
To compete at the state games, athletes must participate in the regional games held in nine different cities. They must place in the top five in their region to compete. However, Bell County residents had the advantage of bypassing this qualifying round as the host city. To qualify for the national competition, athletes must place well in the state games.
“In some competitions if you don’t get in the top three but you meet the qualifying score or time you still can compete at nationals. In other sports you must be in the top three to go on,” said Chuck Ram, recreation superintendent for the city of Temple and co-chair for State Senior Games. “The top three places in each competition will get a medal and will also earn the right to represent the state of Texas at nationals.”
The games began with a check in for athletes Friday and continue through Sunday.
Although the events have just started, Temple residents have shown a strong presence in the games.
In the men’s 50-54 age division three-on-three basketball competition, the Temple Bugs took first place. The team, composed of players from both Temple and Waco, is no rookie to the senior games having placed fourth at the national level two years ago and second in state last year.
“The competition was a lot tougher this year,” team spokesman George Felix said. “It was fun. We worked really hard to be ready and in the end it payed off.”
“It’s not just a bunch of old guys playing basketball out there,” he said. “We may be older but these guys can really play.”
Another Temple resident coming away with two medals of her own. Shirley Gilliland placed first in both the 5K road race and 10K road race for the 75-79 age division during competition Sunday.
“It is exciting to win this year,” Mrs. Gilliland said. “My husband, who got me started running and was my running partner for years, passed away on Aug. 27 of this year. It was hard to train while also taking care of him, but I think that running has kept me sane during the times since my husband was ill.”
Mrs. Gilliland has competed in many races and marathons since she began running, participating as far away as Alaska. She even competed in the National Senior Games in 1997 in Tuscon, Ariz. She said her biggest challenge this year was the heat.
Roberts was in attendance at the road races.
“The excitement level of the competitors this year has been awesome,” he said. “Just the excitement of finishing and being a part of it. People were thrilled with their own performance and you could see people that were saying ‘Hey I did a good job and I’m proud of it.’”
Roberts said Temple continues to be one of his favorite places to have the games.
“The people here in Temple are just plain friendly,” he said. “They know the rules and regulations that come with putting on the games and when we as an organization go to a place and say that we want them to run the state games, we sometimes have to explain everything to them. In Temple, we don’t have to tell them anything.”
Sporting events, as well as other competitions, will be at various venues in Temple this week. The competitions range from a triathlon to checkers. But the heart of the senior games is keeping people active.
“I could tell you story after story about how getting active has enriched people’s lives. Whether that’s running a marathon or walking around the block,” Roberts said. “My best advice is to get active.”
