Golden Games at the Oval

Pensioners from across the Makana, Riebeeck East, Ndlambe, Bathurst, Kenton On Sea, Klipfontein and Alicedale areas gathered at the Oval to participate in this year's Golden Games.

They participated in different activities including various ball games, jukskei, a dark walk and various races (100 meters, 200 meters and 800 meters).

Participants were split into age groups for the various activities, namely: 60 to 69 years, 70 to 79 years and 80 to 89 years.

The games were organized by the Departments of Health, Social Development, and the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture together with the Service Centre for Older Persons forum.

The idea behind the Golden Games is to encourage older citizens to adopt healthy active lifestyles and help them manage their chronic diseases better through regular physi- cal activity while giving them a platform to socialise and showcase their sporting abilities.

Mayverine Oerson, Assistant Director for Grahamstown's Department of Social Development, says, “We are doing this event to keep older people active and healthy, and to show young people that older people still have talents and abilities.”

The winners of this week's competition will proceed to Sarah Baartman Golden Games event, which will be held on 15 September at the Oval, and where they will be competing against the winning teams from the Humansdorp and Graaff Reinet areas.

Joice Matebese, chairperson of Older Persons Forum, comments that their organisation caters for people who are older and/or who may suffer from various disabilities, and that they encourage participants in their forum to participate in events such as the Golden Games.