Team Louth take part in Go for Life

A team of older people from Louth celebrated playing games on Saturday at the sixth annual Go for Life games which was held at Dublin City University.

This was the first year that a team from Louth had taken part in the games, which featured 24 teams from around the country in what was described as ‘a celebration of physical activity where older people demonstrate that it is never too late to take part in team sports.

Go for Life is the national physical activity programme for older people, and the programme demonstrates that sports are for everyone, not matter what age you are.

The games played are based on what over 1,000 Go for Life groups do across Ireland. ‘Lobbers’ is an adaptation of petanque or boules that you might see played on the continent, while ‘scidil’ is a type of ten pin bowling or skittles but more difficult as it is played with one skittle.

‘Flisk’, is a cross between frisbee and the fairground favourite, horseshoe pitching. There are separate teams for each game from each county. Teams are made up of four and the games are played in a ‘round robin’ style so that most people are competing most of the time. Each team scores a point for their county. The overall scores are added up to find the winning county. The emphasis on fair play is also important and ‘Spirit of the Games’ awards are given to individuals who show sportsmanship and fair play.

Research has shown that physical activity improves mental and physical well-being as well as providing opportunities for social networking especially in older people.