Bocce, dragon boats, equestrian, golf, hockey, pickleball – these are just a few of the sports Rosslanders will compete in at the BC Seniors Games being held in Trail, Castlegar and Nelson, starting Aug. 16.
Laura Anderson, who moved to Rossland from Toronto in 2003, is addicted to pickleball.
“A lot of people played in Arizona in the winter,” she said. “I fell in love with it. It`s very big in the U.S., B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba.
The relatively new sport combines tennis, badminton and pin pong. It is being included for the third time at the Games.
Using a paddle and whiffle ball, pickleball scoring is similar to badminton, Anderson explained.
“A lot of seniors like it. Many have a background in racket sports. The court is smaller so you don’t have to run so much, but it’s lots of good exercise. What I really like, it’s very social. I get to meet so many different people,” she says.
It’s not “cut-throat competition,” Anderson added, noting she is more concerned with developing her skills.
“There’s a lot of mentoring of beginners and young players.”
This is Anderson’s first seniors games. She is entered in mixed doubles and women’s doubles, playing with people from Rossland, Trail and Castlegar.
“I heard people from Kelowna are quite advanced and same for people from the Lower Mainland. I think it will be a real eye-opener.”
Ritchie Mann is entered in the equestrian competition.
“There’ll be a dressage test, a pattern and driving through cones – and obstacle course,” he said.
This isn’t Mann’s first time at the Games. He competed in cycling about seven years ago “but had a knee operation, so this is the first time since then.”
He and his eight-year-old steed, Stormy, will be up against about 25 competitors from the East and West Kootenays, Okanagan and Lower Mainland.
Mann’s wife, Audrey, will be competing in the bocce event with Helen Bourchier, of Genelle.
“We went for tryouts and thought we’d be swamped, but we were the only ones in the playoffs,” she said.
She’s competed in the past in swimming and running.
Altogether, 30 Rosslanders will compete for Zone 6 (West Kootenay). Others include: Maureen Corrado, Kathy Hanson, Mary Hatlevik, Rita Holmes, Ken Holmes, Jan Micklethwaite, and Trudi Toews in dragon boats; Cecil DuBois, Maureen Elliot, Joan Ferguson and Sharon Noakes in golf; Paul Broyd, Gary Holm, Ron Kassian, Michael Ramsey, Richard Turner, and Don Vockeroth in hockey; Les and Violet Anderson in horseshoes; David Dudeck in pickleball; Don Lenarduzzi and Sam Ross in slo-pitch, Derek Chouralos, Leif Devantier and Bill Pettigrew in soccer; Barb Roberts in swimming; and Dale Bradley in tennis.