By Breven Honda
The month of March is always a busy one for the Mesquite Senior Games as it marks the beginning of the spring games.
The first event marks the beginning of eight consecutive weeks of 15 different sports and activities.
President Sandy Tudor said her, and her eight other board members kicked off the spring games with Table Tennis on March 2 at the Mesquite Recreation Center.
“We’re in pretty good shape,” Tudor said. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but it’s picked up quite a bit. We’re getting people signed up for the rest of the events.”
The bowling event, which is scheduled at the Virgin River Lanes, is already sold out, due to its popularity and the number of lanes available.
This year, bowling is separated into two days, one for three games of doubles competition and the second for singles action. Check-in for both days is at 9 a.m. so all the participants are ready to begin hunting for strikes at 10 a.m.
Most of the sporting events, like bowling, are separated into five-year age divisions, beginning at 50 years old to evenly balance the competition. The top three in each age division of every sport will earn a medal.
In addition, every participant will receive a goodie bag, which includes a drink cozy, notebook and a notepad that has a magnetic strip to easily attach to the refrigerator or something similar.
Each sport is designed for not only the experienced, but also the first timers to emphasize the mission statement of the Mesquite Senior Games to “promote the health and fitness of anyone 50 years and better.”
Tudor said participants need “absolutely no” experience. She added the two most important things people need to know about participating in any event.
“Our primary goal is to have fun, so we need them to have fun. We want them to meet new people, try new things and have fun doing it,” Tudor said. “The second thing is it’s about the camaraderie, the participation, more so than about winning.
“So, you do not need to be proficient in any sport to compete.”
Before pickleball gets under way, both poker and the first of two fitness hikes are on March 12.
Although the hiking map is not completely finalized, people will have the opportunity to explore the unique terrain of Mesquite. Check-in begins at 8 a.m. near the Flying J Truck Stop near Lower Flat Top R0ad and West Pioneer Boulevard by finding the Mesquite Senior Games Banner.
Poker takes place in the afternoon as action begins at 2 p.m. The format is no limit Texas Hold ‘Em and there is a 40-player maximum for this tournament, which takes place at the Mesquite Veteran’s Center, a new location compared to previous years at Sun City.
“We’re so excited about the fitness hike that we’re doing it twice,” Tudor said. “The nice thing about poker is this year we’re doing it at the Veteran’s Center. They said, ‘We’ve got poker players here from our facility,’ so that’s good.”
The fitness hike, poker, pickleball and the basketball skills event begin a stretch of five consecutive days of at least one spring event taking place with hoops action on March 16 at the Mesquite Recreation Center.
The basketball event will include making as many free throws in 25 opportunities, hot shot for those to make as many baskets from various spots with differing point values in 60 seconds as well as a three-point shooting contest where participants shoot five balls from five racks. The first four balls of a rack are one point, and the final ball is worth two points.
“We’re looking forward to (poker) and then right after that, we have the pickleball and then basketball,” Tudor said. “Quite a few people signed up for basketball and most of them are doing all three events.”
The second half of March concludes with five days of tennis in addition to track and field and the history tour.
Tennis, which is making its return since 2019, is a culmination of a three-round minimum for participants to be in medal contention. Action from March 18-22 is from 9-11 a.m. and 3-5 p.m. each day at Hafen Park.
Track and field consists of run, power walk, jump and field events on March 23 at Virgin Valley High School.
There are eight different running distances from 50 meters to 5,000 meters, five different power walk distances from 400 meters (one lap around the track) to 5,000 meters, four different jumping events, such as long jump, triple jump and high jump, as well as five different field events, such as pole vault and discus.
The final event of March is the history tour, a non-competitive event for everyone of all ages to learn about the town’s past. Open to a maximum of 20 attendees, it is a 3-mile walk around town, which is followed by lunch in the garden of the Virgin Valley Heritage Museum.
In addition to people participating or volunteering in an event, or two, Tudor wants people to come out and observe the different events over the next two months as spectators.
“We’d love to have people to come watch some of the games,” Tudor said. “That’s one of the reasons I like having the events published in the paper so that people go, ‘Oh wow, tennis is going on, I might go and watch.’ So, I encourage people to come out and spectate and then maybe next year participate or volunteer because it looks like fun.”
