By: Breven Honda
The Mesquite Senior Games fall season begins this month and the board members, as well as the volunteers and event directors, are ready.
“We’re really excited,” said Mesquite Senior Games President Sandy Tudor.
Tudor is also the event director for the first event of the fall season, the men’s softball tournament.
Over the course of 11 days from Oct. 4-14, more than two dozen teams will square off across the six different age brackets, looking to enjoy their time on the diamond while hoping to secure the coveted gold medal.
“Some of the people like to come see the younger ones, but some of them love to come see those 74-year-olds play,” Tudor said as spectators are welcome to watch the action. “It kind of gives them hope. I always post the dates and the times and the age groups that are playing.”
Prior to the scheduled age tournament bracket, Tudor will put the schedule on the group’s Facebook page for those who not only want to know when they are playing but also for those who want to come out and watch the games.
The only hiccup affecting the men’s softball event comes with the 50-plus age bracket on Oct. 6-7.
It just so happens that there is another men’s softball event for the 50-plus age teams in Las Vegas at the same as Tudor’s tournament.
“We’ve had some challenges because the (Senior Softball USA group), which based out of California, is running their 50-year-old division the same time I am,” Tudor said. “I’m having some challenges getting more than three teams, but that’s okay. I told the three teams ‘We’ll play a couple Round Robins, and everybody else get to play a lot of games, and that’s what they’re here for.’”
After softball, the Mesquite Senior Games then turns its attention to the golf tournament, which is slated for Nov. 5 at Coyote Willows Golf Course.
Through Sept. 21, Tudor said the tournament is three-quarters full, which means there are about 55 players signed up with six weeks left before the event.
Preparations remain ongoing for the golf tournament, including the logistics beyond the golf itself.
Following the tournament, the Mesquite Senior Games is organizing a raffle, with support from different local businesses.
“We picked up four or five raffle prizes,” Tudor said. “We’re still just getting started, looking for some raffle prizes. We always do a pretty good raffle at golf.”
The women’s softball tournament does not do a raffle with prizes, but a similar fundraiser. Instead, they do a 50/50 raffle where the winner receives half of the purse, and the other half goes to support the Mesquite Senior Games.
“One of the things we have to do for that is we have to get a gaming license through the state of Nevada,” Tudor said to have a 50/50 raffle. “So, that’s one of the first things the board does the beginning of every year, is renew our gaming license. There’s no cost for it. It’s just something you have to have. So, we do that for softball and the guys are really into that.”
The third and final event is the bowling event, which is scheduled for Dec. 6. More information, including when the registration will open, will come next month.
One of the things that are in good position right now is volunteers and the needed help for the three events.
Prior to the men’s softball event, the Mesquite Senior Games ran the concession stands at the Silver State Pickleball Tournament from Sept. 29-Oct. 1.
One of the things they sold is their standout breakfast sandwich.
“Our concession stand is pretty famous,” Tudor said. “We do a breakfast sandwich that people just die for it. Everybody’s very happy to help with that.”
In addition to the fall season, the Mesquite Senior Games has been preparing for the 2026 Spring Season. Next year also marks the 25th anniversary of the Mesquite Senior Games, so they are ensuring everything goes their way with preparation now.
Over the last couple of months, Tudor and the board of directors have been making sure the venues for each event are locked in.
“There are places that we have to get the venue locked in before we can do anything else,” Tudor said. “(Track and Field, for example), has to be a time when, (Virgin Valley High School) is running, when they’re not on break, and when they don’t have a local track meet scheduled.”
In addition to scheduling venues, the Mesquite Senior Games is also looking for new event directors to lead four events in the spring. Those four events are Table Tennis, Basketball Skills, Track and Field and Fitness Hike.
Tudor said some experience is needed to run the fitness hike while the other three will be mostly based on following what has been done in the past.
“We’ve had these long enough that you can go into our dropbox account and you can see what we need to do and how we need to do it, and how the scoring goes,” she said. “So, it’s not a matter of being really proficient in that event, although the fitness hike, I really do need somebody who understands and knows the fitness trails and stuff.”
So far, Board Member and Sports Director Shawn Edwards has been reaching out to find event directors to broaden the amount of help at a board and event director level.
“We try not to have our event directors be our board members,” Tudor said. “We want outside participation. So, we’re locking that down right now, and Shawn’s doing a great job on talking to people and getting event directors for the various events.”
