Wicklow team competes at Go for Life Games
A team representing County Wicklow took part in the 2017 Go for Life Games held in DCU. They were one of 24 teams from around Ireland participating in a day of fun sporting activities.
Now in its sixth year, the Go for Life Games is one of the biggest social sports events for older people in Ireland and this year’s event brought together 300 older players from all over Ireland to compete, to stay healthy and to have fun.
Go for Life is the national physical activity programme for older people, run by Age & Opportunity and funded by Sport Ireland. The Go for Life programme and the Games event demonstrates that sports are for everyone, not matter what age you are.
What began as a one-day event in 2012 is now a year-round phenomenon, with older groups training, practicing, competing and coming through heats in their counties in order to compete in the finals in DCU. The event is growing every year and it is hoped that by 2018 there will be teams competing from every county in Ireland.
The games themselves are devised specifically for Go for Life. ‘Lobbers’ is a target game adapted from petanque and boules; ‘Scidils’ is a two-sided adaptation of ten pin bowling but using two skittles; ‘Flisk’ is adapted from boccia and horseshoe pitching. These games, with clear rules and scoring systems, can be played and practiced by everyone, no matter what level of sporting ability. They are great for developing balance, flexibility and concentration. The social aspect of the games also brings people together for fun social events with a healthy amount of competition to keep things interesting.
Mary Harkin, Head of Sport and Physical Activity in Age and Opportunity was delighted with the great response on the day.
‘ The Go for Life Games are a real festival of physical activity, a celebration of sport,’ she said. ‘ The kind of energy and enthusiasm that the games inspire is proof that older people can continue, or even start, to live very healthy, active lives at any age.
All of the teams, made up from active retirement groups, social clubs, men’s sheds, sports clubs and other community groups, have been supported by their local sports partnerships.