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Summer National Senior Games Scheduled in Pittsburgh
for 2005
July 27, 2004 Up to 15,000 senior athletes are
expected in Pittsburgh, Pa., next June for the 10th
anniversary of the Summer National Senior Games (The Senior Olympics).
The Pittsburgh Local Organizing Committee (PLOC),
which produces the event with the National Senior Games Association (NSGA),
is expecting between 12,000 and 15,000 top male and female senior
athletes - age 50 and over - to the southwestern Pennsylvania area. In
addition to the athletes, the Games are expected to draw more than
25,000 spectators to the biennial event.
Competition will run from June 3 through June 18 in
the following sports: archery, badminton, basketball, bowling, cycling,
golf, horseshoes, race walk, racquetball, road race, shuffleboard,
softball, swimming, table tennis, tennis, track & field, triathlon and
volleyball.
The year-out celebrations have kicked off for the
Games. Everyone involved with the Pittsburgh Games is dedicated to
making this one of the best Senior Olympics ever, notes David White,
Executive Director of the PLOC. Our mission is to promote healthy
lifestyles for adults fifty and over through education, fitness and
sport.
Athletes will compete in 18 sports at venues spread
throughout Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, including events scheduled
to take place at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon
University, Schenley Park, and North Park.
To compete in the Summer National Senior Games,
athletes 50 and over must qualify in NSGA-member state senior games
during 2004. Most of the Pennsylvania senior games qualifying events
for the 2005 national competition will take place at Shippensburg
University on June 26 through July 3, 2004.
For the 1999 and 2001 Summer National Senior Games,
more than 27,000 senior athletes from across the country qualified to
compete in this national event.
Pittsburgh will host three qualifying events for
the Keystone State Senior Games:
> Softball: July 24-July 27 at North Park, Pine-Richland High School,
Pine Township Community Park and Warrendale Community Park.
> Golf: July 26 at North Park
>Triathlon: August 8 at North Park in conjunction with the North Hills
YMCA
The Senior Olympics has taken place during
odd-numbered years beginning in 1987 and has grown into the largest
recurring multi-sports event in the World for seniors. The 2003 Games
were in Hampton Roads, VA last summer when 10,700 senior athletes
participated; the largest number of participants competed at the 1999
event in Orlando when close to 12,000 athletes traveled to the Florida
city for competition. Other former sites include St. Louis, Mo. (1987
and 1989), Syracuse, N.Y. (1991), Baton Rouge, La. (1993 and 2001), San
Antonio, Tx. (1995), and Tucson, Az. (1997).
Local sponsoring partners for the Games in
Pittsburgh to date include: UPMC, Highmark, PA Lottery, WPXI-TV, Verizon
Wireless, and Citizen s Bank.
More information on the 2005 Summer National Senior
Games - The Senior Olympics is available online at
www.nsga.com/.
Those interested can also call David White, Executive Director, PLOC, at
(412) 647-6519. |
