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	Photo by Jud Burkett/ The Spectrum From Here and There's Don Collins (32) and John Smerdon (43) defend a shot attempt by Seafresh's Jim Ewers Wednesday during Huntsman World Senior Games action.

Huntsman World Senior Games Draw Over 9,000 Athletes

Oct. 13, 2005 - The Huntsman World Senior Games - open to all athletes ages 50 and above – opened their annual competition on October 3 and they conclude on October 15 in St. George, Utah. More than 9,000 senior athletes were expected to compete in the 22 sports offered at this 19th annual event. All 50 states and several foreign countries are represented.

"I heard about Senior Olympics when I was 50," Warren Jones told The Spectrum.com after his team, the Cat Mountain Coyotes, beat the Detroit Ambassadors 59-50 in the 70-plus age division Wednesday. The Coyotes are 2-0 in Huntsman World Senior Games basketball thus far. "If we win (today), we'll play for gold or silver on Friday." Jones played high school basketball in Indianapolis.

Jones, an ordained minister in the American Baptist Church, put the Coyotes together for the HWSG. "I got Larry Eggan from Illinois off the computer," he said. Don DeMoulin of Las Cruces, N.M., came to the team similarly. And Don Hull from California's Bay Area contacted Jones.

"This is the first time we've played together," Hull said of the HWSG experience. A former football and basketball player from Utah State University, he scored 20-plus points in Wednesday's win

TheSpectrum.com has presented regular reports on the games. To read the rest of the story on Jones and the Coyotes, click here.

According to Kathie Thayne, Executive Director of the Games, the competition has grown in popularity over the years (increasing from 500 participants in 1987 to more than 7,000 in 2004) because of a "more health conscious" senior citizens and baby boomer generation.

"Four million people in the United States will be turning fifty each year through 2024", Thayne says. "Today's 50 plus generation is active and health conscious. Competing in these games gives many baby boomers and older Americans a terrific incentive to stay healthy and keep in shape."

Generally, the Games consist of basketball, bowling, tennis, cycling and mountain biking, racquetball, road racing, softball, swimming, triathlon, volleyball, lawn bowls, square dance, table tennis and track and field. Athletes also compete in games of horseshoes, bridge tournaments and golf matches.

The Games help foster good health through free health screenings, Thayne says. The services include PSA, blood sugar, bone density, hearing, blood pressure, cholesterol and glaucoma tests and body composition and breast cancer risk assessment screening - all meant to emphasize the importance of seniors taking a proactive role in their health.

Healthy experts say the activities can be a source of important information about the changing medical needs of older people - and equally important, a great way for seniors to compete and have fun, says Thayne.

The World Senior Games were founded by John H. Morgan, Jr. in 1987 and are held each year in Utah's Dixie in mid-October with the City of St. George hosting the Games. In 1989 Jon M. Huntsman, Chairman of the Huntsman Corporation, became the Games' principal sponsor after recognizing their value which not only fosters lifetime fitness, but has expanded Utah's economic vitality. At that time, the name became the Huntsman World Senior Games.

For more information visit www.seniorgames.net, or call 1-800-562-1268.

The Spectrum.com Local Sports – click here.

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