The American Staff

Entries are being accepted for the Oklahoma Senior Olympics, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2006.

Founded by the City of Tulsa Park and Recreation Department in 1987, less than 100 athletes participated in the first state games. The event is expected to draw more than seven times that number this year.

Seniors are encouraged to start training now for the games, scheduled at different sports venues in the Tulsa area from Sept. 18-27. The Oklahoma Senior Olympics is the only sanctioned senior games in the state authorized to qualify athletes to compete at the National Senior Games scheduled to take place in Louisville, KY in summer 2007. Oklahoma is expecting competitors from many states besides Oklahoma as the state games are open to all.

As presented in the Tulsa Parks OSO mission statement, "The purpose of Oklahoma Senior Olympics is to provide opportunities for adults age 50 and older to achieve greater value and quality of life by staying healthy, active and socially involved." The games run for 10 days and feature more than 70 events representing 22 sports.

The statewide competition will include: badminton, basketball, bowling, croquet, cycling, golf, horseshoes, pickleball, racquetball, race walk, road race, shuffleboard, softball, swimming, table tennis, tennis, track and field, volleyball and weight lifting. New for this year will be triple jump and billiards events. In addition to the sport events, OSO will feature a literary and visual arts competition.

Athletes will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in eight age divisions for men and women: 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84 and 85 and older.

New this year is a dinner/dance that will be included at no extra charge to participants. They also will receive a free 20th anniversary commemorative T-shirt.

Entry forms and additional information on sports venues and scheduling are vailable online at www.tulsaparks.org or by calling (918) 596-7866.