N.C. Senior Games Keeps Seniors From 'Growing Old'
By Lauren Gregg, News Services
"Get up out of your rocking chair and get your body rocking." That's the message Louise Gooche, a North Carolina Senior Games cheerleader, has for her fellow seniors.
Gooche and nearly 3,000 others will gather in locations across the state next week for the North Carolina Senior Games (NCSG), which has become the largest senior games program in the nation thanks in part to the efforts of one NC State professor.
Dr. Beth Wilson, associate professor of parks, recreation and tourism management, was asked by state and local leaders to organize the first local senior games in Raleigh and to help develop the North Carolina Senior Games program in 1983. Wilson took on senior games as a class project and, along with her students, planned the local event from start to finish and helped create the statewide organization and board of directors.
"I believe I was asked to help organize the first senior games because our department had a reputation of getting our students engaged in the community," Wilson says. "We were doing service learning before we even called it service learning and our students were getting practical hands on experience in the community."
Now, nearly 24 years later, the NCSG has been identified as the model senior games program by many national organizations - including AARP - and Wilson says that other states look to North Carolina to see how to run their own senior games programs.
Participants qualify for the NCSG state competition at 53 local games, which have more than 60,000 participants and are available to seniors in all 100 counties. Wilson says the true impact of the program is through those local games. Individuals 55 or older participate in an array of sports, cheerleading and arts competitions though NCSG. The games serve all skill levels, from former Olympians who compete in track and field events to the participants who are picking up a tennis racket or learning to dance for the first time in their lives.
The games are not all about sports. They have an arts component as well. "There are many older adults who would probably never sign up for senior games because they see it as sports, but then they see that we offer all kinds of artistic activities from dancing to basket weaving and they decide to get involved," Wilson says.
Gooche, a member of the board of directors as well as a participant, believes the games are important because they give seniors an opportunity to focus on maintaining a healthy body.
"Move whatever body part you can move, just whatever you do, don't sit still," Gooche says. "If you are good to your body, then your body will be good to you."
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| The Durham Divas cheerleading squad won the gold medal in its division at last year's games. |
This year, Gooche's cheerleading squad, "The Durham Divas," will compete with three other squads at the state finals. Last year her squad took home the gold medal in its division. She says just because you're growing old doesn't mean you stop playing ... you grow old when you stop playing.
Gooche is a five-year colon cancer survivor. She says she survived the disease because she was in good health to begin with and continues to be healthy, thanks in part to the North Carolina Senior Games.
NC State students are also a part of what makes NCSG such a success. Wilson says her students volunteer at least one year, because it's expected in some of their classes, but many have such a great time that they continue to volunteer, even after they graduate from NC State. "We will have about 900 volunteers during the state finals this year and many of those volunteers are former NC State students that keep coming back."
Sam Trogden, who started volunteering as a graduate student at NC State, says he looks forward to the games every year. "Everyone who participates in these games is an inspiration," Trogden says. "It's amazing to see what these older adults can do. People have the perception that seniors are not active, but these participants bring their game and come to the competition to win."
Wilson believes one of the greatest benefits that students get from volunteering is they learn that aging can be a wonderful process and is not all negative. "The students' involvement in the games, with healthy, vibrant older adults, has helped dispel some of the myths about aging. Young people are bombarded with a lot of negative images of aging so this is a chance to paint a different picture."
Wilson says the NCSG program is all about prevention and health promotion. "The goal is not to add years but to add quality to the years we have left," Wilson says. "If we can motivate older adults to become healthy, stay healthy and be active, everyone benefits: the individual, their families, the community and the healthcare system. We need to invest in health on the front end so we are not burdening the healthcare system later on. It's a real challenge but it's a good goal to have."
To learn more about the North Carolina Senior Games, visit www.ncseniorgames.org/. To learn more about the Durham Divas, visit www.durhamdivas.org/. To learn more about the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, visit http://cnr.ncsu.edu/prtm.