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Cleveland rocks!

The National Senior Games Association has confirmed that it will hold a press conference later today to announce that Cleveland has been named to host the 2013 Summer National Senior Games. Cleveland won the bid over two other finalists -- Miami and Birmingham, Ala. -- according to a report in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The 2009 Games are slated for the San Francisco Bay Area, and Houston will host the 2011 Games. This year, 2008, is a qualifying year for the 2009 Games. Athletes 50-and-over can qualify with top performances at state senior games. 

Tags: National Senior Games Cleveland

In Juneau, Alaska, there's an adult hockey league for women. One of the teams in the league calls itself, get this, Victorious Secret.

Tags: Adult Hockey

Here's an indication that Masters sports are finally getting some respect. Philippa "Phil" Raschker, a 61-year-old Masters track and athlete, was named among the 11 finalists for the AAU's 2007 James E. Sullivan Memorial Award, which recognizes the top amateur athlete in the United States. Among the other nominees was Tim Tebow, the quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy. Raschker, who lives in Marietta, Ga., had an amazing year on the track in 2007, setting 12 world and 31 national age-group records. In Masters Athlete magazine, she was honored as the GeezerJock of the Year by Masters Athlete magazine. Fan voting counts for one-third of the tally for the Sullivan Award winner. Fans can vote for their favorite athlete on the USA Today Web site by clicking here. Fans can also text their votes. To vote for Raschker text AAUVOTE8 to 44636. The award winner will be named on April 1 at a ceremony at the New York Athletic Club.

Tags: GeezerJock Of The Year

In addition to making this GeezerJock.com site available and publishing Masters Athlete and Masters Cycling magazines, we also help produce events for Masters athletes.

On April 25-27, The Villages Masters Athlete Pickleball Championships will take place at The Villages, an active adult community in central Florida. The event features men's, women's and mixed doubles pickleball in four age groups: 50-54, 55-59, 60-64 and 65+. You can find the registration form at http://www.masters-athlete.com/public/174.cfm

We also co-produce The Villages Masters Athlete Softball Championships with The Villages. That tournament is slated for Oct. 24-26. The tournament is open to men's and women's teams in two age groups: 50+ and 60+. The tournament also has a home run derby. Registration information for the tournament will be available at masters-athlete.com later this summer.

Masters Athlete has also joined with Buttar to bring you the second annual Masters Triathlon Championships. The event, which features both Olympic and sprint races in age groups beginning at 40+, takes place on Oct. 26. For more information, visit http://www.buttar.com

Tags: Tournaments Events

I'm a big believer in coaching. You can see it at work in college football. Whenever a good coach moves to a new school that's been performing poorly on the field, immediately the school starts playing better. You could see it with all of the great ones from Lou Holtz to Nick Saban.

But for some reason -- maybe miserliness -- I haven't been a big believer in coaching in my own sporting life. And I guess it showed. My golf game had gone steadily downhill for a decade, because I took maybe one lesson a year. I hadn't had a swimming lesson since I was 13. And I'd never had a basketball shooting lesson.

This past year, however, for one reason or another, I've had more coaching than ever. In golf, I'm taking lessons from Simon and from Scott. A simple adjustment -- keeping my right elbow in tighter to my body -- has helped me hit the ball much straighter. I was so wild that I hit just one fairway in an entire round. (That's bad). The last time I played, with the new adjustment, I hit 11 fairways.

I also took a swimming lesson (thanks, Jim!) before the Masters Triathlon Championships last October. By focusing on turning my body from side to side in the water, I cut 10 minutes off my swim time for 1,500 meters.

And about a month ago, I met a guy named Bob Owen, who won his age-group in basketball shooting at the Huntsman World Senior Games. He gave me an impromptu shooting lesson -- my first ever. Turns out my grip was off and I wasn't extend my non-shooting arm as far as I should. Because of the snow and the cold in Chicago, I haven't had much of a chance to practice shooting in my backyard, but on the few sunny days when I've been out there shooting in 20-degree weather, my shot feels a lot stronger. I'll know better come spring.

But think about the sports you play. Maybe investing in a session with a coach or a trainer might be worth the money.

Tags: Coaching

I was feeling pretty good about myself. After a longer than expected period out of the pool -- thanks to my surgery -- I swam almost two miles this week, which started me back on the path to swimming 50 miles this year through U.S. Masters Swimming's "Go the Distance" program. I have about three miles logged this year, as of Feb. 8. Then I received an email from the adminstrator of the Go the Distance program. Here's a quote from the email: "We already have 44 folks that have achieved the first distance milestone of '50 Miles'! We also have 2 participants that swam more than '100 miles,' one that has cruised past '150 miles' and amazingly – one swimmer has already cracked the '200 miles' distance milestone." So, as I said, I was feeling pretty good about myself. The operative word: was.

Tags: Swimming

In this blog I'll be writing about the latest news on people, places and things in Masters sports. As the editor of Masters Athlete magazine that's pretty much what I'm supposed to do. I'll also be writing in this space about my own participation in Masters sports. I take part in triathlons, and I try to play as much golf as I can, which unfortunately isn't much.

This year I want to improved the swimming part of my triathlon. Last year U.S. Masters Swimming introduced the Go the Distance program, which awarded people for swimming a cumulative distance of more than 50 miles in 2007. The program is back in 2008, and I'm planning to participate. You can find sign up information at U.S. Masters Swimming's Web site (usms.org).

I usually swim about half a mile two times a week. At that pace I'd make 50 miles in 2008 -- but just barely. I started off O.K. this year. On Jan. 8, I swam 900 yards, a little more than half a mile. Coupled with my two previous swims in 2008 of 500 yards and 650 yards, I've now covered 2,050 yards. (I know people who warm up for their daily swim by swimming that far). Nonetheless, at that pace, I'll swim 53.3 miles this year.

But the catch is that I had surgery on Jan. 9 (everything's fine), which will ultimately end up keeping me out of the pool for almost two weeks. I'll be back to working out on Saturday -- probably on an exercise bike. But I won't be swimming until next Monday. I'll have some catching up to do.  

Tags: Swimming

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