By creating legitimate competitions, the National Senior Games Association improves senior health and awareness
As many professional athletes begin to wind down their careers around the age of 30, depending on the sport, of course, this often contributes to biases that older adults are frail, more commonly in pain from physical activity and unable to keep up with necessary conditioning to participate in sports. The National Senior Games Association (NSGA) plays a large part in quelling these biases, and it goes a lot further than one might initially think.
Ageism and laying the foundation for the Senior Games
Founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1985 by seven men and women, the NSGA’s mission is to promote the benefits of competitive sports, physical fitness and active aging to adults 50+.
The nonprofit organization’s National Senior Games, originally known as the National Senior Olympic Games, were first held just two years later in 1987 which attracted 2,500 athletes over the age of 50 and over 100,000 spectators.
The importance of this impact can be felt today. Fast forward to the most recent Games held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and you’re now looking at nearly 12,000 athletes and reportedly over $30 million in direct visitor spending. Not only are more seniors participating but the National Senior Games are a great contributor to the overall sports tourism market and its development.
It’s certainly a step in the right direction for older adults where ageism has been deeply ingrained, holding people back from enjoying sports and even the little pleasures of everyday life. Not being active contributes to health problems as we age—that’s no secret. According to Drs. Idethia Shevon Harvey and Bora Jin with Texas A&M, the process of societal stereotyping and discrimination based on age, or ageism for short, comes in two forms: implicit—where people think that seniors are incapable of performing actions without getting hurt, and explicit—where health and fitness professionals maintain “senior-type activities” for milder intensity.
While implicit ageism can often create mental hurdles for seniors to be active, the explicit creates exclusionism. Along with advances in sports medicine, health initiatives like Exercise is Medicine® (EIM), managed by the American College of Sports Medicine, also play an important part in deterring ageism. EIM encourages health professionals to refer patients to evidence-based exercise programs and qualified exercise professionals.
Just as younger adults and youths differ on physical fitness, and therefore must maintain certain limits, the same can be said for seniors. The variety of sports held at the Senior Games for example ranges from power walk to triathlon, which indicates that there is something for everyone.
Growth of the State Games and National Games
The NSGA contains 52 members, including 49 States and Washington D.C., as well as two associate members—one for Canada and one specifically for Veterans. During even-numbered years, States Games are held to determine who will qualify for the National Games in odd-numbered years. Depending on the sport, athletes that place within the top four of their age group or meet the minimum performance standards (MPS) at qualifying State Games will move on to the National competition.
With members across the entire United States, athletes have plenty of options to showcase their athleticism and compete. This has allowed for spectators to also become inspired by older athletes to maintain or improve their own physical fitness, and perhaps find something new that they will enjoy participating in. Combined with current trends over the past decades for equality and not only are changes happening, but growth concurrently.
“The most significant growth trend we’ve seen in the National Senior Games in the past five to ten years is rising participation among female athletes,” said Sue Hlavacek, NSGA president and CEO. “In 2015, female athletes made up 44% of our event participants. Gender representation among the over 11,500 competitors in the 2023 National Senior Games presented by Humana was nearly equal with 51% male and 49% female athletes. Many of the women of the Senior Games grew up before Title IX was implemented and did not have opportunities to play sports as youth.”
Seniors in general are also a major part of increasing both awareness and competitiveness in specific sports on a global scale, such as pickleball. Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports thanks to its pick-up-and-play rules, flow and slower pace compared to similar sports like tennis.
“We’ve also seen shifts in sport participation in recent years, with new sensations like pickleball coming on to the scene,” said Hlavacek. “At the most recent National Senior Games, pickleball was the largest sport with participation capped at 1,600 athletes.”
Seniors are not the only ones playing pickleball. In fact, The New York Times reported that the fastest-growing age group of players are currently under the age of 24. Had seniors not popularized the sport and helped to expand its growth and sports facility developments for more courts, it wouldn’t be in the position it is today.
Current trends to fight back against ageism and other exclusionary issues might not exist without the foundation and hard work of organizations and movements like these National Senior Games Association. Along with health initiatives and improved medical treatments, the National Senior Games will also continue to play an integral part in helping seniors stay active and live healthier lifestyles, though uniquely through competition while also creating a sense of belonging and acceptance.
By Christopher D. Silbernagel
