Seniors from across B.C. will be showing off their athleticism and competing in the 24th annual BC Senior Games from Aug. 18 to Aug 20 in Castlegar, Nelson and Trail.
The organizing body divides B.C. into 12 zones with Prince George in the ninth zone.
Zone nine has 196 competitors this year with the majority of those competitors from the Prince George area.
"A good number of the [Prince George] athletes started participating when the games were hosted by Prince George, the city has hosted the games twice in 2002 and 2008. It's a great host community and an good volunteer spirit," said Linda Meise, director of the Central Interior zone.
Finding cities that are suitable for the games is challenging because the event combines winter and summer sports. The host cities change every year - the 2012 games will be hosted in Burnaby.
Zone nine boundaries extend from 70 mile-house to Mackenzie and McBride to Vanderhoof.
"We compete here and that's it, we don't go on to a national [level]," said Meise, "but there are some events in track and field that they've run for a provincial and a national record. They can do that because the events are sanctioned."
There are 26 events this year including track and field, archery, badminton, bocce, bridge, carpet bowling, dragon boat racing, horseshoes and something called pickleball.
It's played on a tennis court but it's shorter and narrower and it's played with a big table tennis paddle and a Wiffle ball," said Meise. "It's quite popular in the Lower Mainland and [Vancouver] Island. We had a demonstration here a few weeks ago."
Each host city chooses the events out of a list of 30, with some core events that must be offered.
The senior games are under the same umbrella as the B.C. Games, but they are a private society. Organizers are expecting 3,000 people to attend this year.
Eligible participants must be 55 by Dec. 31 on the year of the event.
A raffle to raise funds for the travel expenses of the participants from this area are available through Linda Meise at www.bcseniorgames.org
