Dear Athletes and Friends:

Happy Spring! I'm pleased to report that registration is now open for the 2014 Bay Area Senior Games. To register on line, please click on the BIG Red Button on this home page and it will take you right to our on- line registration. If you choose to register by postal mail, please click here and down load our paper application form, fill it out and mail it to our office, 81 Encina, Upper Floor, Palo Alto, CA 94301. (Reminder, there is a $15 additional fee for paper registration.)

We have a few updates for 2014. We are working hard to hold cycling in Ft. Ord in Monterey. It looks promising and we will be creating the schedule, based on advice from our cycling task force by March 15, 2014. If there are not enough cyclists to make the races interesting, we will have the 5 and 10 K Time Trials on Canada Road as we have had in the past.

Stanford's famous Treeathlon will again include a Senior Games division and this will be a qualifying event for the 2015 Summer National Senior Games Triathlon. And finally, we are adding Pickleball. It will be held at the Walnut Creek Recreation Center and info is now posted on our web site.

As I've said in the past, one of the biggest challenges of hosting the Senior Games is coordinating and confirming all the venues. Now that we are mostly all confirmed, please spread the word to your athlete friends and encourage them to register early.

Volunteer registration opened on March 1. We welcome all the extraordinary volunteers, headed up by our stellar volunteer coordinator, Bob Weder, who helps us make the Games happen!

SPORTS COMMISSIONERS: I am happy to announce most of the 2014 Bay Area Senior Games Sports Commissioners - all of whom use their knowledge and love of their sport to ensure the Games provide the best competitive conditions possible!

• Archery: Karen Keating, Dawnell Scott;
• Badminton: Jeff & Karen Fishback;
• Basketball: Dave Newman;
• Bocce: Ben Musolf, Cassie LeBaron;
• Cycling: Frank Scioscia, Tom Simpson;
• Feats of Strength: Dale Harder, Bill Weinstock;
• Fencing: Barbra Higgins, Rita Comes;
• Golf: Robbie Gray;
• Lawn Bowling: Terry Hogan;
• Pickleball: Dick Hildebrand, Margaret Shindelus;
• Race Walk: Alex Price;
• Racquetball: Merijean Kelley;
• 5K Race: Tom Service;
• Rugby: Frank Merrill, Bob Benson;
• Soccer: Mike Rohde;
• Swimming; Michael Moore;
• Table Tennis: Dennis Davis;
• Track & Field: Leroy Milam;
• Triathlon: Stanford Treeathlon & Dave Constant;
• Volleyball: Alexis Bryce;
• Water Polo: Andy Burke

Mission: To promote healthy lifestyles for senior through education, fitness and the spirited competition of sports, while inspiring everyone to embrace health and appreciate and enjoy the value of sports related exercise. The Senior Games are the best demonstration that "the competition never ends" and that exercise and physical activity are the keys to a long, happy and healthy life.

The Torch Run Continues in 2014: In 2009 for the Summer National Senior Games, we said, "The Senior Games competitors, like the torch that was specially designed for them, are trailblazers and shining examples of how ingenuity, effort, perseverance and vision create a vital new paradigm that promotes health and sustainability for people and the planet." This comment is true in 2014 as well - The Torch Run will take place on Friday, May 16 - each sports chair may choose a female and male athlete to run with the Torch. If you would like to be considered as a 2014 Torch Runner, please send an email to me at

I want to share this thought with all of you. "The Senior Games are at the heart of the meaning of the Olympic Movement. Though they inspire us all, It's still true that many people watch the Olympic Games, see mostly younger athletes at the prime of their performance and say "those athletes are amazing, but that's not me..." With the Senior Games, people of all ages, even those who did not think they could swim, run or jump anymore, are inspired to a more active, healthy and fulfilling life...that's the TRUE Olympic spirit and the real meaning of the Olympic Movement, a challenge to all of us to be the best we can be."

We look forward to seeing you in 2014 at the Bay Area Senior Games.

Chair, California Senior Games Association
2014 Bay Area Senior Games Chair

And from our office, we need your help!

The California Senior Games Board of Directors and the Bay Area Senior Games are looking forward to an exciting year of great competition, good health and lots of fun. 2014 will be a banner year, with two California-based opportunities to qualify for the 2015 National Games in Minneapolis.

The multiple benefits of increased activity is one thing everyone agrees on in the current national conversation on around health care: staying active supports our physical, mental and emotional health. The Senior Games champion this effort and makes it all fun through sports.

Our biggest challenge remains securing sponsorships in order to control the costs for competing athletes and we need your help.

Finding sponsors is challenging because finding the right person to connect with on a personal level is both difficult and time-consuming. This is where we hope you can assist.

Please think about your network of people who work for companies where supporting a healthy and wealthy aging population would benefit both their bottom line and their community engagement. These potential sponsors include companies that conduct business within the following industries: financial, medical, insurance, technology, automotive, travel/leisure, and food/beverage.

You may also be involved, or know those who are, with foundations where healthy aging is among the causes they support.

If you have contacts in these organizations who may be interested in supporting our mission, I am asking you to make an introduction to me and I will take it from there.

Below are a few things to consider about the impact of our demographic and why getting involved would make sense for the right organization:

• There are 10,000 of us turning 50 EVERYDAY!
• We are 100 million strong and we control 77% of the financial assets in this great country of ours.
• We are a powerful group of people that outspends other generations in nearly EVERY consumer category totalling over one TRILLION dollars annually.
• We spend over $7 Billion dollars in on-line purchases, an impressive 2 1/2 times more than the amount teens spend.

The California Senior Games competitions are at the forefront of creating a new model for what it means to be a senior in America. We all have networks built from a lifetime of relationships that include people who believe in the importance of our mission. Please consider supporting the Senior Games by making an introduction that can lead to making competitions available to more Californians.

With gratitude!