Pickleball is one of the many activities that will be held during the 2024 Senior Olympic Festival in Tucson. These people are playing in Udall Park, on Tucson's east side.
An annual competition during most of January will offer participants the chance to exhibit their athletic skills, mental acuity, and good luck.
The 39th Annual Senior Olympic Festival in Tucson will consist of more than 400 activities, spanning the alphabet from archery, badminton, and basketball, to Texas hold 'em, track and field, and volleyball.
Debra Henley is a recreation coordinator for the City of Tucson, and one of festival's main organizers.
She says the benefits extended beyond the actual challenges to the mind or body such as when lifting weights or playing a card game.
"I also appreciate the social aspect of it all. I think that's really important, especially with seniors. Getting out there, meeting new people with similar interests, similar passions. And you see these new friendships being forged," Henley adds.
Joe Stubbins and Debra Henley, Recreation Coordinators with the City of Tucson at Udall Park, also work on the annual Senior Olympics Festival in Tucson.
The activities will be held at Udall Park on the city's east side and other venues in the community, and have attracted people from as far away as Canada or nearby New Mexico on previous occasions.
"Last year when I looked at the numbers we had over one-thousand participants and then we had, breaking it down further, we had 800 people who signed up for more than one event. So you'll see on person sign up for volleyball and then they're turning around and doing golf," Henley says.
The annual event has humble beginnings that can be traced to 1992.
Back then, Pam Webber was the administrator of the Tucson's Parks and Recreation Department, and she came up with an activity at Armory Senior Center to promote health and fitness.
Over the years, it morphed into its current form, and Henley says hundreds of volunteers are vital now in order to allow the athletes and other participants to compete.
"Age is just a number," Henley says. "We have an event for everyone."
However, there has been at least one modification to the annual gathering.
In the early days, one of the events was nail pounding, but that was discontinued because someone hit their hand instead of the nail!
Pickleball is one of the many activities that will be held during the 2024 Senior Olympic Festival in Tucson. These people are playing in Udall Park, on Tucson's east side.
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