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August 14, 2002
Willow Glen, California Since 1992 |
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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
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Senior Olympian: Bob Wilson, 79, throws his
hands up in mock exasperation after missing a
shot during a practice tennis game.
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WG residents earn titles at senior games
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| By
I-chun Che
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Willow Glen resident Bob Wilson looked
intense. He bent his knees and held his
tennis racquet tight. He was ready to beat
anyone at the California Senior Games state
championships.
"I like competition," said the 79-year-old
Wilson in a resonant voice. "I am restless,
and I enjoy it."
The golden years have not diminished the
competitive spirit of seniors athletes like
this retired sociology professor.
A total of 1,256 people, ages 50 and up, came
together for the 2002 California Senior Games
state championships. Athletes from 13 states
competed in 22 sports in the greater San Jose
area between Aug. 2 and Aug. 11. It was the
first time the city of San Jose had hosted
the game.
Brent Shiramizu, director of San Jose's
Office on Aging, said the games promote the
lifelong health and physical fitness of
seniors.
"It helps demonstrate that seniors still have
a lot of skills and vitality," Shiramizu
said. "When they win a gold medal or even
just finish a game, they gain a sense of
achievement."
The games also kept seniors engaged in the
community - more than 250 volunteered to help
during the event - and spread awareness of
services the city offers to seniors.
"Before they came to sign up for the games,
many seniors didn't know the aging office
provided services like free blood pressure
checkups," Shiramizu said.
Wilson knows all the benefits of playing
sports.
He has played basketball for 54 years. He
also coached track, football and baseball.
He started playing tennis when he moved to
Willow Glen in 1959 and was trying to find a
swimming facility for his two children. A
neighbor told him of the San Jose Swim and
Racquet Club, located at 1170 Pedro St., and
Wilson went to check it out. He has played
tennis ever since. Now he practices six days
a week, about two hours a day.
"It's sociable, and I met nice people here,"
he said. Most people he plays tennis with
have known him for more than two decades.
"Bob is clever, crafty, cool and calm," said
Bob Sletten, 60, who has known Wilson for 25
years.
Although Wilson said he does not play as well
he wants to, he won first place in men's
doubles and second place in mixed doubles.
"There aren't really many competitors of my
age," Wilson said. Only 17 percent of the
participants this year were between the ages
of 70 and 79.
The club's director, Ken DeHart, also
enrolled in the championship tennis game.
"Playing keeps me young," said DeHart, 54.
"When you play sports, you are around
positive and energetic people. That helps you
feel positive about yourself."
DeHart said the games were a step for him to
compete with people of his age at a national
level.
DeHart won first place at the annual San Jose
Senior Games last year, which qualified him
to play in the state championships. DeHart
won first place in singles and mixed doubles,
qualifying him for the 2003 national
championships, to be held May 26 to June 9 in
Hampton Roads, Va.
For DeHart, tennis is also a way to cement
his relationship with his 2-year-old son,
Kameron, who can now serve, volley and do a
forehand stroke.
"I want to win for Kameron," DeHart said.
Tennis is only one of the sports Willow Glen
seniors competed in.
Willow Glen residents Ken and Helen Brady,
ages 74 and 66, defended their state lawn
bowling title at their home field at Bramhall
Park, near the corner of Camino Ramon and
Britton Avenue.
The couple picked up lawn bowling seven years
ago when Ken retired, and have since become
members of the San Jose Lawn Bowls Club. Ken
has been the club's president three times.
"We just loved lawn bowling from the word
'go,' " said Helen Brady, a retired nurse.
They have traveled around the world searching
for challenges in the sport. In April, they
won a gold medal in the Sun River Invitation
Tournament in St. George, Utah. About two
weeks ago, they competed in Helen's native
Canada.
"This is not a testosterone sport," said
Helen while watching several female bowlers
throw balls inside the rink. "Women can bowl
as well as men can."
Lawn bowling is not only a physical game - it
is also a mental game that requires memory,
coordination and strategies.
In a recent practice session, Helen
demonstrated how to lawn bowl.
"Step on a mat, aim at the white target ball,
and throw your ball," Helen said while
throwing a 3-pound ball out.
She missed the target. She shrugged and
smiled.
"Some days you are really good, and some days
you are not," Helen said. "But it's just
fun."
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