National Senior Games lowering standards to raise entries?
I’m on the mailing list of the National Senior Games Association — which is organizing the National Senior Olympics this summer in the S.F. Bay Area. And today’s email has this intriguing declaration: “The NSGA has announced that 4th place finishers in all 2008 Qualifying Games in all individual sports (except tennis, cycling and golf) are now eligible to register for the 2009 Summer National Senior Games. Third place finishers in 2008 Qualifying Games in tennis and cycling are also eligible. . . . Congratulations! See you in San Francisco.” So are the NSGA folks getting softhearted? Not really. I suspect some hardheaded bean counters are pushing for higher attendance. In earlier years, a flood of entrants overwhelmed Senior Olympics organizers. Now the economy is slowing interest to a trickle, I gather. Hang tough, fifth-placers. Your invite may come, too!
7 Responses
They have done this in the past as well. This is my point about the “qualifying standards” for the NSG. Those who hold them up as if they are the answer to the National Masters Track Meets or WMA meets gaining more respect need to take a closer look at the results. Do not look just at the first 3-4 places – look down the list to see the results for those at the bottom. Are they better than the last place finishers at the National Masters Meets or WMA meets? There are paper “standards” and then there is reality. In some age groups – those who qualified just need to turn up and do their thing as there were very few in their event(s) at the state meet. While this may not be true for male sprinters in the 50-65 age group or in some throwing events – it is true for many events.
It is not about the economy this year – this is old news.
I’m very sorry, Mary; I can’t agree with you. It’s not about the specific standards applied by the National Senior Games Association for the Senior Olympics/Senior Games. It’s about respecting ourselves, respecting our events, and respecting our championships.
The idea that any man aged 40-49 who is a citizen of the U.S. and a member of USATF should (if he asks) be given a lane in the 110 hurdles at our national or world outdoor championships is something I cannot respect. Asking that man to demonstrate reasonable proficiency (18.99 FAT for nationals or 18.50 FAT for worlds) is not, in my view, elitist.
It’s now 2009; the idea that someone would be competing in the national championships in tennis who had no forehand, a terrible backhand, and a balloon for a serve would be seen as ridiculous. Same idea goes for golf, etc.
And yet we don’t respect ourselves enough to have standards for masters T&F. Coming from the other direction (see Jeff Brower’s post elsewhere), standards/qualifying rounds have a way of attracting people. I propose a standard of 4:55 for M40 runners in the 1500 for Kamloops (2010). It’s the indoor masters championships for the entire world, for crying out loud.
If anyone from Virginia asks me about the Kamloops meet I will warn them (if they like the 1500) that absolutely anyone can compete there, even those who can’t break 13 minutes. Furthermore, I will tell them not to expect a total field of more than 25 for M40.
Make Kamloops a true world championships, have people feel that they simply can’t miss this event (I believe this is the first time ever that the meet will be in North America), impose reasonable qualifying standards, and watch the entries fly in.
I definitely agree, there has to be qualifying standards. There should be a generous lookback period, like 3-4 years, because many masters athletes skip years of competition due to work commitments and travel expenses even though they continue to train throughout. And they could also be generous with allowing a performance in one event to qualify an athlete for other events (e.g. a qualifying 200m time also makes you eligible to run the 100m and 400m). But there should be some sort of standards to ensure reasonable fitness.
Only the 80-year olds and older should be allowed to compete at the worlds without meeting any standards, because there are already so few of them, and just being alive at that age with enough energy to get to the starting line is a notable achievement.
I think the standards have more to do with strengthening the State Senior Games than increasing the quality of the National Senior Games. I was unable to compete in the State Games last year, so I am ineligible to compete in the meet. I have asked for a waiver several times but have been unsuccessful, even though my performances would place me among the medal winners.
I live in the San Francisco Bay area and have won 4 national titles at the USA Masters T&F champs yet I will not be able to participate in the 2009 National 2009 National Senior Games because I did not run in any 2008 Senior Games. This is very frustrating because I lost my job last year and probably will not be able to attend the USA Masters T&F champs in Oshkosh. The 2009 National Senior Games will be held 30 minutes from where I live yet I am ineligible to participate.
While I believe there should be qualifying standards for national championships (including the USA Masters T&F champs), to require an athlete to qualify in the previous year is ridiculous. Does the US Olympic Committee hold the Olympic T&F Trials the year before the Olympics? Of course not!
The other aggravating aspect to this is that the marks in many of the state Senior Games are not competitive. So it remains to be seen how truly competitive the National Senior Games will be.
I believe there are many Track & Field athletes who would love to participate in the 2009 National Senior Games in beautiful Palo Alto but won’t be able to because they were unaware of the 2008 qualification requirement.
With all the complaints people may have about USATF, there seem to be much more legitimate complaints about the National Senior Games leadership.
I am registered for 80 LD in tennis, and I won the Bronze medal in the Huntsman Games, and I understand that Bronze winners are now being accepted to play in the National Sr Olympics, so I would like to register for the 80 Singles. I cannot figure out how to do it. Could you please notify me how I go about doing this. Thank you. Beverly Little.
What is the purpose of the Senior National Games? Perhaps it isn’t the Olympics. Perhaps it includes encouraging older folks to take care of their bodies. . . since they include such a variety of events – bowling, ballroom dancing . . . that is my impression.
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