With the Delaware Senior Olympics’ annual games ready to kick off in August, the organization is doing its best to attract new members.
New president Paul Gatti and the all-volunteer organization have started a membership program in the hopes of getting Delaware seniors to become more active.
Gatti sat down with the Dover Post on April 27 to discuss what the Senior Olympics has to offer the state’s senior population.
Q With just a few months before the annual games, what are some of the challenges Delaware Senior Olympics is facing right now?
A We’re trying, right now, to spread the word out on the fact that we even exist. There are over a quarter of a million people in the state of Delaware who are eligible to be a part of the organization. For those that do know it, most of them know it because of the annual games. And what we want to get out is that you don’t need to be a competitive player in order to be part of the organization and get some of the benefits.
Q So what is out there for the non-competitive senior who wants to remain active?
A We’ve had Walk Delaware for close to 10 years now, and we’ve had the group challenge for the past four years. People that feel that they’re not athletic but want to do something physical, well Walk Delaware helps you do that. It’s at a level where pretty much anyone should be able to do it. And the group challenge is kind of that same thing. It’s got activities like gardening, Wii bowling and walking that you can get points for, and that goes toward an overall goal if you want to be in a team climate. There are activities that you can, as an individual, make competitive, even if you’re competing against yourself. And hopefully you just have fun and you’re better off for it health-wise.
Q Is it tough to convince seniors that they can still be active despite their age?
A I think for all of us, when we were kids, if somebody hit 30 or 40, it was a big deal to see them go out and compete in something. And if they were 50 or 60, they were like almost in the grave. And most of the time, by the time they hit 70, most people had passed away. And if you look at what they did, they didn’t do a lot. Life has changed, though. Things have been sped up to make time available. People have started saying, “You know, I have time to do something now.” Nutrition and medical advances have worked wonders to allow people to be active. And I think if you talk to most people who were in the games, you would find out they’d say, “As long as I can continue to do it, I’m not just going to walk away one day and say I hit some number, I can’t do it anymore.” It’s more of the challenge of staying with it now and becoming part of the organization.
