B.C. is sending two slo-pitch teams to the 2014 Canada 55-plus Seniors Games this week in Sherwood Park and both of them carry Prince George addresses.
The Arc Angels are entered in the seven-team 55-and-older mixed tournament while the Deloitte Old Sticks are guaranteed a medal as one of three teams in the 55-and-older men's division.
"Our team is good but it's going to be a tough competition," said Old Sticks player/coach Larry Mehrer. "We won bronze last year [in the B.C. Seniors Games in Kamloops] and the teams we're up against won gold and silver last year in the Alberta Seniors Games."
The Camrose 55s and the Westlock Terminals Barley Boyz are their opponents.
B.C. is not a member of the Canada 55-plus Games Society and Mehrer says that's part of the reason no other teams from the province are competing this week in Sherwood Park.
The Old Sticks formed in 2008 for the B.C. Seniors Games which were hosted that year in Prince George. They won that tournament, were repeat winners in Castlegar in 2011 and also won silver in Richmond in 2009.
"We played really well in 2010 in Campbell River and scored 15 runs in just about every game and didn't even make the medal round - we lost by one run every time," said Mehrer.
"We're a pretty good hitting team so if we hit the ball we should do quite well."
Games start Wednesday and each team is guaranteed six games.
Also part of the Old Sticks team are Art Frenette, Merle Ward, Barry Chamberlain, James Harder, Ken Rose, Dale McFarlane, Chuck Buchan, Bruce Thornton, Dennis Perreault, Ron Scheck, Tony Bennett, Domenic DeMarzo, Mike Antoyniuk and Darwin Buehler.
The Old Sticks play together in the Nechako Mixed Slo-Pitch League and finished sixth in the A Division with a 12-15-1 record. Buehler, Thornton, Bennett and Frenette pitch for the Old Sticks.
The Arc Angels placed sixth in the Nechako League B Division with a 12-16 record.
In Sherwood Park they'll face Black Gold (Alberta), the Turner Valley Braves (Alta.), 6 Mixed (Alta.) Yukon Arcand, the Regina Capitals and the Regina Rebels.
"Our average age is 59 and we are all passionate about ball and we all still play it competitively," said Arc Angels player/coach Jackie Burns. "We have a lot of fun. It's a good relationship with the young kids [in the league] and we have fun playing with them. We always ask them if they're going to be playing when they're our age."
Mark Carswell and Gary Castle are the Arc Angels pitchers. The other members of the team are Lloyd Burns, Rod Harvey, Doug McFarland, Kim Lawson, Calvin Ruttan, Pat Scott, Carol Brown, Steve Martin, Debra Dallas, Rob Prideaux, and Tom Greninger.
The Arc Angels have been together for three seasons. They won bronze at the 2012 B.C. Seniors Games and were fourth in B.C. last year.
Prince George will also be represented at the Canada 55-plus Games in floor curling and crib. Bob Carrier will skip the floor curling team which includes Bernice Carrier, Fred David and Yvonne Wilson. Amy and Lena Dumoulin are the crib players.
Both Prince George slo-pitch teams plan to compete in Langley for the 2014 B.C. Seniors Games, Sept. 9-13.
