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Senior Games Facts
Purpose
- To organize an annual recreational and sports event for the
55 plus generation in Windsor and Essex County
- To bring together amateur competitors who participate for the
sheer joy of competition, and for the camaraderie and social interaction
that are an integral and essential part of the Games.
- To connect seniors to other local year-round activities with
the focus of enhancing and maintaining physical and mental well-being
- To promote friendship, fellowship and mutual understanding among
older adults, and the rest of the community
- To provide local winners with the opportunity to participate in
the biennial provincial games - Actifest (during the summer of the even
years) and Winterfest (during the winter of the odd years)
At the Local Level
Windsor-Essex County Senior Games (District 32)
- is a senior, volunteer driven initiative
- holds 26 mentally and physically challenging Winter and Summer events
including: skating, skiing, curling, volleyball, badminton, basketball,
table tennis, tennis, 9, 18 hole and par 3 golf, lawn bowling, carpet bowling,
5- and 10-pin bowling, swimming, darts, snooker and 8 ball, shuffleboard,
horseshoes, walk, scrabble, cribbage, bridge, euchre and pepper
- have some events, such as the walk and the 10 pin bowling, that are adapted
to accommodate both the well older adult and persons living in care facilities
- held their first ever winter senior games in 1999- 2000, offering hockey, curling,
volleyball, skating, cross-country skiing, and badminton
 - fundraise all dollars required to operate the games through local
businesses, service and labour organizations
- in 1998, assisted the City of Windsor Parks and Recreation Department to
host the provincial Actifest Summer Games, bringing more than 1,400 people from
across the province to Windsor for 3 days of competition and camaraderie
- in Aug. 2005, successfully hosted the Southwest Regional Senior Games event
involving more than 650 participants, and volunteers to participate in 15
different tournaments in one day.
- will celebrate the 25th Anniversary Year for the District 32 Senior Games in
2006-2007 season.
At the Provincial Level
Ontario Senior Games
- is a provincial senior, volunteer driven initiative based in Toronto
- coordinates and oversees the Senior Games initiative involving more than
20,000 seniors in 40 Districts across the province
- was initially established as the Ontario Senior Games Committee of the Older
Adult Centres Association of Ontario in March of 1984 to develop a format for
district competition and a plan for Ontario Senior Games Provincial Championships
- has worked with host cities on a biennial basis since 1986 to put on the
provincial levels of competition known as Actifest in the summer of even numbered
years and, since 2000, the Winterfest event to be held in odd years
- are working with Hamilton to hold the provincial competitions - Actifest in
Aug. 2006 and Winterfest in Brockville in Feb. 2007
- supports the Canada Senior Games by sending competitors from Ontario to the
Canada Games in the summer of the even years - Portage La Prairie, Manitoba Aug. 2006
- receives core funding from The Ministry of Tourism and Recreation
History
It was in 1982 when Flo Hartlieb, then assistant to the director of Centres for Seniors
Windsor, together with older adults in Senior Centres, and with the support of the Windsor
Department of Parks and Recreation, envisioned a program of organized sports for older
adults in the Windsor area they called Senior Games. The idea was to allow those 55 and
over an opportunity to enhance and maintain their physical and mental fitness.
The 1982 participants' enthusiasm was "contagious", according to Flo, and
the number of events and participants grew. Mostly through her efforts, the Older Adults
Centres Association of Ontario established a standing working group called the Ontario
Senior Games Committee (OSG) and succeeded in pushing for the provincial government support
for the Senior Games.
As of now, costs of participation in the Windsor-Essex County Senior Games are minimal.
There is a registration fee of $5, plus events fees. Additional user fees are required
for some events, including 5- and 10-pin-bowling, golf, 9-ball and snooker, and tennis. The
OSG has since evolved into the Ontario Senior Games Association, and the Senior Games is now
participated in by some 20,000 adults 55 years old and better, in 40 districts throughout
the province, established through geography and population.
In the meantime, the Windsor-Essex County Senior Games (District 32) has continued to
flourish, thanks to the hundreds of people who register to play and the support of the
provincial government, the general community, public service clubs and private industry.
Senior Games Now Played Both In Winter And Summer
 The Senior Games have been expanded. What used to be run only in the summer was extended
to winter months. Winter Games are played from November to January and the Summer Games run
from April to June.
Eleven events are now offered in the Winter, and 18 in the Summer. Winter events include
badminton, 5- and 10-pin bowling; curling; contract and duplicate bridge, ice skating;
cross-country skiing; hockey; table-tennis and volleyball. In the Summer, 18 various indoor
and outdoor events are scheduled. They are duplicate and contract bridge, cribbage, euchre
and pepper; 9-ball and snooker; lawn and carpet bowling; and par 3, 9-hole and 18-hole golf,
and snooker. Also offered are darts; horseshoes; scrabble, shuffleboard; swimming; tennis;
and prediction walk.
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