Florida Senior Games holds events on Beach
Bay Oaks Recreational Campus will be hosting particular events of the 2010 Florida State Senior Games Championships this weekend.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach recreational center will house the open power lifting championships at 10 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Other events are taking place at various locations around the county and have been since Saturday, Dec. 4.
According to Randy Norton, special events coordinator at Bay Oaks, preparations for the event will begin with a 7:30 a.m. gymnasium set-up, an 8 a.m. check-in time for the weight lifters and rule-reading session from 9:30 to 10 a.m. The championships are slated to last until noon on Saturday and 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The Saturday event pits the Master Championships where the power lifting participants had to register for the event by Nov. 19. Each age group size is in five-year increments, such as 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, etc. A 92-year-old participant competed at the games last year.
The following are the weight divisions in pounds for the Masters event for ages 50 and older on Saturday.
n Men’s weight classes: 123, 132, 148, 155, 181, 198, 220, 242, 275 and super heavy weight.
n Women’s weight classes: 105, 114, 123, 132, 148, 165, 181, 198 and over 198.
On Sunday, the event broadens a bit with the power lifting championships for the Sunshine State Games. Youth age groups as well as the Master division will follow the same format.
Bay Oaks has played host to competitions of the Florida Senior Games State Championships during its roughly 20 years. The Beach recreational facility will collect proceeds from the event through general concessions only, so help out by showing up with an appetite.
“Lee County Sports Authority arranges the games, and Bay Oaks is one of the facilities they have chosen to use,” said Norton. “We get proceeds through concessions at the event which is expected to draw 80 participants and 200 spectators each day. It’s a good event which draws a new crowd to the campus and creates a good opportunity to have more people see our gym.”
The 2010 Florida Senior Games State Championships is a qualifier for the 2011 National Senior Games in Houston, Texas from June 16-30.
The Senior Games movement first started in Florida when the Golden Age Games were created in Sanford in 1974. Soon after, Local and State Senior Games events began appearing nationwide, especially throughout Florida.
In 1992, the first Florida Senior Games State Championships were held in Bradenton. Over the years, the Florida Senior Games continues to grow, and together with the Local Games, provides fun, fellowship, fitness and competition for Florida’s fastest growing age group. The focus of the Senior Games is not winning, but participating. The Florida Senior Games is dedicated to encouraging and promoting healthy lifestyles for Florida’s Seniors; providing Florida’s Seniors with the opportunity to compete at the local, state and national levels; and providing all Senior citizens of Florida with an affordable and quality multi-sport festival they can call their own Games.
-some of the latter information was provided by the Florida Senior Games website.