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The Voice of North Grenville
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September 19, 2024
Vol. 12 No. 37
Skating seniors slide to silver
Nancy( Mac) MacLean, Rose Marie Huskins, Deb Wilson Three local women took part in the Canada Senior Games in Quebec City last month, Nancy (Mac) MacLean, Deb Wilson and Rose Marie Huskins. Mac and Deb were part of the women's 65+ Ice Hockey team playing their way to a silver medal, who were joined with ladies from a wide are of Eastern Ontario - Osgoode, Almonte, Arnprior, Ottawa, Belleville, Tamworth, and one coming all the way from Sault St. Marie to form this successful team. The idea for the Iceoholics began in the fall of 2023, when a new age division was added to the
September 19, 2024
in 2020, when they were postponed due to the covid pandemic. The games were developed to promote positive aging with participation, fun and socializing being the priorities. These games include a wide variety of sports and activities for seniors; in fact, twenty different physical and intellectual activities are involved: badminton, lob ball, pocket baseball, billiards, bowling, contract bridge, duplicate bridge, 5km and 10km races, cribbage, curling, darts, golf, hockey, swimming, shuffleboard, pickleball,
Canada Senior Games. Some of the ladies who had reached that milestone age (and older), wanted to enter a team in this division. Mac put the call out to find players wanting to compete, who were still actively playing, and the group came together. The idea for the Iceoholics came from Cheryle Canning and Mac, who remain the driving forces behind women continuing to compete in ice hockey into their senior years. In 1996, the first Canada 55+ Games were held in Regina, Saskatchewan, and have since been held every two years, except
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scrabble, tennis and table tennis. Participants compete on a regional, then provincial level to qualify for the Canada Games. Attendance has continued to grow, with approximately 2200 participants in 2024. Female participation continues to be on the rise, particularly in hockey. Female hockey, thanks to the efforts of Nova Scotian Debbie MacDonald-Gray, was first included in the 2014 games. Since then, the number of participants in this category has grown exponentially, with a 60+ group added in 2022, and a 65+ age group added this year. This past year, to qualify for the national games, there were eleven 55+ teams. six 60+ teams, and two 65+ teams. In November of 2023, the Iceoholics travelled to Georgetown to the Ontario Senior Games qualifier tournament. Two teams from Ontario had entered, the Iceoholics and a team from Caledon. The team had competed against some of the Caledon players over the years while entering tournaments at the 55+ and 60+ divisions. The team played two games in Georgetown, handily defeating the Calendon team. This is where they made the comcont'd on page 2
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