Flagstaff 55+ athletes compete for Zone 4 in Alberta 55+ Winter Games

[The Zone 4 55+ Hockey Team, including Flagstaff players Raymond Anderson and Brant Sim]

The Alberta 55+ Games were first held in Camrose in 1981, initially called the Alberta Seniors Games, and are held every two years. The name was changed in 2007 because some of the competitors don’t consider themselves seniors.

The games divide the province into zones, and each zone competes against each other in a number of different events, the Winter Games, held in February in Calgary featured hockey, skiing, badminton, 5-pin bowling, duplicate bridge, cross country skiing, carpet bowling, darts, euchre, ice curling, snooker, darts, and table shuffleboard.

Flagstaff is located in Zone 4, which had 144 people taking part in 14 different activities, with four residents from around the county competing.

Kay Abrahamson, from Sedgewick, competed in 75+ scratch 5-pin bowling, and finished in fourth place overall.

She says Zone 4 has a Challenge Cup that local teams can enter once a month, travelling to Rimbey, Stettler, Camrose, and Ponoka, bowling for a trophy and small cash prize.

Abrahamson has also competed in The Masters bowling, in 2006 she successfully won a shot to compete in the Nationals.

This was not her first trip to the Alberta 55+ Games, and she said going has always been a good time for her, and she’s met new people each time who she is still friends with.

In Calgary, she had the opportunity to visit a friend she made while competing in the 2009 games in Lethbridge, “She came to cheer me on both days,” Abrahamson says.

She says that the games experience differs from place to place, depending on who the hosts are. Abrahamson won in 2009, but says since then, she must use up all her luck in the qualifiers, but says the Games are a great experience.

Three other Flagstaff residents played hockey, two on the Men’s 55+ team, Raymond Ander-son of Sedgewick, and Brant Sim of Hardisty; and Alliance resident Alvin Miller played on the 70+ team.

Read the rest of the story in the March 12, 2013 Edition of The Community Press