Editor’s Note: Nick Gandy (on right with athlete Ed Soderberg) does an excellent job as the media director for the Florida Senior Games and was eager to contribute stories about “his people” to the Games Daily. Nick is your typical veteran sports writer, but he’s not burned out or  lost his passion for people nor

For Jarol and Leah Duerksen, table tennis is more than a game, it’s the glue that holds them together and drives their social interactions.It even played a key role in introducing them six decades ago. “We were both freshmen in 1956 at Multnomah College (now Multnomah University) in Oregon,” Jarol recalls in between their mixed

By Jennifer Coco As Charlene Kemp-Queener competed in the javelin and shot put at the 2019 National Senior Games in Albuquerque, her mother Susie Kemp and sister Sherry Kemp sat cheering on the sidelines. Sherry recounts turning to Susie after watching then 103-year-old Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins run the 50-meter race and saying, “You know mom,

Over 650 athletes are serving their best shots at the 2022 National Senior Games presented by Humana Tennis competition hosted at the Veltri Racquet Club. We posed a question to a few of these devoted athletes to see how staying active through tennis competition has benefited their lives. How has playing tennis, being involved in

By Nick Gandy, Florida Senior Games If there’s a badminton event going on in South Florida, it’s a pretty good bet that Dave Zarco, of Miami, is going to have something to do with it. A Florida Senior Games badminton player and sport director, Zarco has served as the National Senior Games badminton sport director

After each frame of their bowling mixed doubles finals round, siblings Elsie Armijo and Carlos Rodriguez returned to a table behind the lane to check in with a small crowd of family members looking on.  This home base included Elsie’s daughter, Sonia, and two grandchildren, and Carlos’ wife, Margaret, all sporting matching shirts displaying the

Ray Corpuz had his first taste of bigtime shuffleboard at the 2019 National Senior Games in Albuquerque, but his inspiration to eventually participate goes back a dozen years. When Ray, who is equal parts Filipino and Native American, retired from his career as a Toyota mechanic in 2009, he and his wife moved from Long

Thanks to a grant from Queen Latifa’s Queen Collective, two swimmers are participating in a documentary film profiling their passion of swimming as girls who didn’t let barriers to swimming stop them from seeking their sports dreams.  Team Dream is a Chicago-based organization that provides training to women of color in swimming, cycling and triathlon.

By Nick Gandy, Florida Senior Games John Shultz has established himself as the most consistent gold medalist in Florida Senior Games Table Tennis history. He has won a medal in 29 of the 30 years of the Florida Senior Games. He began winning medals in 1993, the second year of the Games, in the 55-59

2022 marks the year that recumbent bikes are being introduced for medal contention in the National Senior Games Cycling Time Trials being held at Florida Live in Sunrise, Florida. There are divisions for two- and three-wheel recumbents, and competitors we spoke with felt as happy to have the opportunity to ride them as much as