What will you be doing at 92?
When Adel Inke (92 years old) arrived at the Virginia Senior Games she
immediately approached the registration table to ask where the practice
pits were. With none available, she did the next best thing. She and
her son went off to an open area in the grass and starting pitching at
an imaginary target. When the game had been completed on a nearby
court, she was allowed to pitch her game. With no competition in her
age bracket, she pitched a few shoes with Dave Moser and was awarded
her gold medal. Prior to getting into horseshoes, she had won quite a
few medals in the running sports. With her legs no longer able to take
the beating of running, she has enjoyed the sport of pitching
horseshoes for the last 15 years. She told me that she has courts in
her back yard and gets out there a few times every week. Sometimes her
husband joins in, but most of the time she's out there alone, pitching
for the excerise.
This year's event was different than last year's for me. Last year, I
also had no competition in my age bracket, being the 'youngest' senior,
just 50. This year, Mike Dodson joined the fun and signed up to pitch
in my bracket. The start to the day was fast and furious for both of
us. We were the very first pitchers on the docket. When Mike & I
were called to pitch the first game of the day, WOW! what a surprise.
We quickly realized that the specator-safety-barrier splitrail fence
surrounding the court also allowed spectators to line all four sides of
the court. About 50 people had gathered around this one court in the
park to watch Mike & I trying to pitch.
The boxes were filled with ballfield clay, and the pins were 3/4"
hollow pipe anchored firmly underneath. The dry conditions made landing
anywhere in the box seem like pitching on top of bricks. The pins
rebounded every shoe that touched them, sending the shoes back toward
the pitcher more times than not. We struggled our best out of 3 games
with Mike getting a lucky ringer to win the gold. On top of the
conditions, the pressure of having all those people watching was
amazing. I can empathize with the top notch pitchers, maybe you get
tunnel vision after a while?
Once my games were over, I settled down to just have fun. I took photos
of the winners, the area and talked with a great many people.
Conversations with the staff from the Virginia Beach Parks and
Recreation Department are very encouraging. They are surprized at how
many people from the immediate area enjoy pitching. Danny, the Great
Neck Park maintaince supervisor, showed Kirk Adams and myself an area
that he was considering for expandtion of the horseshoe pitching area.
He proposes to place four to six courts at this one location with room
to expand if a club gets started and the need arises.
This is great news for the VaHPA pitchers in the Va Beach Area. I will
be staying in close contact, working and encouraging them to form a
club and use the park. The Great Neck Park is truly beautiful, and is
well enjoyed by many company picnics, weddings and family reunions.
There is a wonderful nature trail, nice pavillioins and grills, plenty
of shade, ball and soccer fields. There is also a full size indoor pool
in the rec center.
I wish I could put names on all
of the photos I took, but I did not have pad and pen handy to
write things down. If you see yourself or someone you know in one of
these photos, drop me an e-mail and I'll
add the name to the photo.
I had a blast being there and I hope to see all of the medalists at the
games in Pittsburg next year.
Until then stay healthy and pitch shoes!
Kevin
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