| :: Cleveland to host Senior Games in 2013 :: |
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Posted by Sarah Hollander March 06, 2008 03:57AM / Plain Dealer
Categories: Breaking News, Impact
The country's top senior athletes will be coming to Cleveland en masse in 2013 for what
will be one of the biggest events ever hosted here.
The National Senior Games Association has chosen the city to host its 16-day summer
competition over two other finalists -- Miami and Birmingham, Ala.
Organizers expect at least 13,500 athletes aged 50 and older, plus about 25,000 guests, to
attend. By comparison, just over 10,600 athletes competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics
in Athens, Greece.
"It's a stellar addition to the resume," said David Gilbert, president of the Greater
Cleveland Sports Commission, which bid for the games.
The event should generate about $35 million for the local economy, and give Cleveland
another chance to prove itself as a premier host for large, amateur sports events, he said.
The senior games will be similar in style, but much bigger, than the International
Children's Games, which drew about 2,200 young athletes to Greater Cleveland in 2004.
A superior site visit last November pushed Cleveland to the top, said Philip Godfrey,
president of the Louisiana-based National Senior Games Association.
The association felt it could work well with the Sports Commission and appreciated
community support from political, corporate, medical and academic leaders, Godfrey said.
The Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, MetroHealth Medical Center, the Benjamin
Rose Institute and other groups will help create programs and events meant to promote
senior health and fitness.
The association also thought the Euclid Corridor bus rapid transit route, scheduled to be
finished later this year, would make traveling between venues easy for visitors.
Hank and Adele Zucker of University Heights, 83 and 75, played tennis in five and three
senior games, respectively. And they hope to qualify for the 2013 games. There's no
mistaking when the event is in town, as participants from around the country fill the host
city's hotels and restaurants, Hank Zucker said.
"It's like a big convention coming to town, only it lasts for two weeks," he said.
Most contestants spend about three to five days at the event, he said. And many bring
along family members.
"Cleveland will do a super job," he said. "It's a big thing and it's going to take a lot of
work, but we've got some time to get ready."
