PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Senior Center will send its first group of athletes to Thurston County this coming weekend to participate in the 2004 Washington State Senior Games.
If any of the 10 athletes wins a medal in his or her event, the contestant will be eligible to compete in the National Summer Senior Games in Pittsburgh in July 2005.
“This is the first time we’ve sent a team,” said Dee Bellamente, who will be running the 10k race. “We’re pretty excited.
“We’re very proud to have 13 people going to the first year event; it will be bigger next year.”
Bellamente and nine other senior center members will be competing in events ranging from bowling to discus and table tennis.
Support staff
Three senior center members also will travel with the group as “chief cheerleader,” team support and technical support.
The Senior Games are organized by the National Senior Games Association, a community-based member of the United States Olympic Committee and a member of its board of directors.
The association’s objective is keeping people ages 50 and older healthy and active.
The national summer games feature 18 events held in odd-numbered years, and participants must qualify in association-sanctioned state games to compete.
The winter games are held in even-numbered years. They feature seven events and don’t require qualifying at the state level.
Participants are allowed to compete in as many events as the athlete’s time and the event’s schedule allows.