National Senior Games
Keeping a movement humming along and getting participants in shape
By Del Moon
Photos: Courtesy of National Senior Games Association
Everyone in the event business or those providing recreation services has their own pandemic story. When at-risk older adults are the primary demographic, the challenges are as complex as a Rubik’s Cube to resolve. The National Senior Games Association (NSGA) recognized early in 2020 there would be a major impact not only on games and schedules, but also on the physical fitness and well-being of its participants.
NSGA has staged the National Senior Games biennially since 1987; in 2019, history was made when nearly 14,000 competitors came to Albuquerque, N.M., for the National Senior Games, making it the largest qualified multisport event in history for any ages.
Athletes 50 and over are required to qualify in one of 53 sanctioned Member Games, held the year before the National. These games are independently organized, and some are hosted by recreation and parks departments. Several organizations were able to postpone or stage partial games in 2020, but conditions forced most to cancel. And, in early 2021, NSGA postponed the next National Senior Games from November 2021 to May 2022.
But the organization’s unique structure and mission to promote healthy, active aging added layers of concern that had to be addressed. “With state games available for some but not for many others, how do we fairly qualify our athletes?” explains NSGA CEO Marc T. Riker. “This was as important a question to resolve as the big decision whether to postpone or cancel our national games.”
In addition to the event-organizing headaches, Riker also emphasized a third major challenge—the need to monitor and engage the athletes to keep them active and thinking past the current restrictions. “Even though we have some of the most fit and positive-minded older people on the planet doing Senior Games, we also knew that they were in danger of having their fitness degrade faster than younger athletes. We had to be equally focused on the ongoing fitness of our people as much as the event.”
A Three-Pronged Approach
For NSGA, the real challenge was not only the attempt to keep its massive National Senior Games on schedule, but also the critical need to assist its Member Games to navigate similar rough waters in their states.
NSGA and its key contacts in the Greater Fort Lauderdale host area monitored local conditions and considered potential scenarios for the big event. Staff and board members, state coordinators, invited experts, and selected athletes explored the potential financial and safety impact anticipated for each option. The process included focus groups, work committees, and special board meetings, with many hours devoted to finding the right answers amid an ever-changing landscape.
At the state level, NSGA’s role was to help facilitate the sharing of ideas, common issues, and potential solutions to help game organizers make decisions based on local health and safety restrictions. Numerous video calls, many sectioned out into regional groups, were hosted to openly allow for sharing of feedback, ideas, and encouragement.
An even more thorny challenge was the qualifying question, which was approached in the same manner as the Games’ status was tackled. After a thorough process, again with input from every level, a comprehensive solution was agreed upon.
“The main concern was how to be fair to everyone,” says Carrie Fehringer, NSGA Director of Athlete Relations. “That not only meant leveling the field for how our athletes are entered into the event, it also meant being inclusive of every state games organization, small or large, to make sure each of their concerns were addressed and they have the best opportunity to bring more athletes to their games when they did return to play. They see higher attendance when people can come qualify for Nationals.”
Briefly, the solution was to qualify, as normal, athletes who were fortunate to have 2020 games in their state, and most of the participants who did not know who qualified for the 2017 and 2019 National Senior Games automatically became eligible. Fehringer, who came to NSGA from the Greeley, Colo., recreation department, where she organized the annual Rocky Mountain Senior Games, says the decision to postpone the national event until 2022 opened up an additional window. “Once we made that decision, it made sense for us to additionally expand qualifying to include results from any Member Games that are able to be conducted in 2021. This should help our state games organizations rebound better with higher athlete numbers.”
Getting The Athletes Into The Act
Another major challenge was to keep athletes moving in the face of months of restricted activity and the shutdown of events and facilities. “We assumed athletes would be looking for ways to exercise on their own at home, but training for many sports, such as swimming, are difficult to replicate without access to sport venues and equipment,” explains NSGA Director of Health and Wellness Andrew Walker. “We needed to find resources and to do what we could to keep people connected and forward-thinking in their response to the situation.”
NSGA began to share alternative home-exercise and well-being articles and demonstration videos, many sourced from wellness partners, such as the American Council on Exercise and the YMCA of the USA, through its newsletter, athlete emails, and on NSGA’s social media, using the hashtag #StayFitSeniors to drive the effort. The resources are archived in an Exercise and Wellbeing Resources section at NSGA.com.
To add a fun and interactive element, NSGA asked athletes to make simple, home phone-videos to share how they were making it through the shutdown. They were to be funny or inspirational or provide exercise tips. The videos were shared via social media and were well-received. One was of 80-year-old swimmer DeEtte Sauer in her shower, singing, “I’m swimming in my dreams” to the tune of “Singing in the Rain.” The videos were also collected for a #StayFitSeniors Athlete Videos Page on the website.
NSGA also saw the need to provide some form of virtual group competition to reduce feelings of social isolation, and to suggest goals and motivation to remain active. Several states, after canceling the physical games, began to offer virtual sport and exercise challenges. Nationally, NSGA began hosting periodic “virtual step challenges,” with athletes competing for their state to have the highest average daily steps reported. “The beauty of our program is that it can convert almost any activity, even gardening, housework, and shopping, into ‘step’ points,” Walker explains. “People really appreciated that we were thinking about their well-being to offer these things to help get them through a difficult time.”
“We’re pleased that all of our collective work and actions were widely accepted, and we have been complimented for our thoroughness, inclusion, and fairness in decision making,” Riker concludes. “The Senior Games movement was slowed down a little, but we’re excited to be looking forward to a reunion for the ages when everyone gathers in Fort Lauderdale next year.”
The 2022 event, presented by Humana, will be held May 10 through 23, 2022, in Greater Fort Lauderdale, with complete details at NSGA.com. The 2023 National Senior Games will be held in Pittsburgh, Penn., with the traditional schedule of qualifying in 2022 for 2023.
For games and qualifying information, please visit NSGA.com. For inquiries about NSGA and state senior games, email Becky Sewell, Director of Association Relations at Bsewell@NSGA.com.
Del Moon is the NSGA Communications and Media Director. Reach him at (678) 549-4444, or Dmoon@NSGA.com.