Geezer Tennis

   Yesterday I participated in the 2011 New York State Senior Games held in Cortland.   For many years I have played both in the men's singles and men's doubles tennis competition in my age bracket.   It is a fun time and winning a medal adds some satisfaction to the activity.   Yesterday was a blistering hot day.   Unfortunately I melted in the heat and had to retire from my singles match after one set.   Early in the set I had it all going for me and was leading 5-2 when I began to lose my energy and my edge.  I ended up losing the first set 7-5.   Rather than extending my agony and perhaps damaging my health,  retiring was the wise thing to do.  Walt Schoonaker played well and certainly had the stamina to stick with it.   Congratulations to Walt for winning the gold medal in his final match with Viktor.    It was a thin field in our age group this year and my nemesis over the years, Dave Shannon withdrew for some unknown reason so by default I did get the bronze medal.
     Seth Burgess and I played in the men's doubles in the afternoon and we were soundly beaten at 6-2 and 6-0 in that match against Fred and Al.   Our bracket spanned ages 70 to 87 so the pairings often had more senior people matched against younger opponents.   Seth and I out aged our opponents by about 5 years.   No excuse though.  Fred and Al had played together for many years to their advantage in our contest.   This was the first year for Seth and me so we are on a learning curve.   We look forward to another year after we have developed our team skills.
    The Senior Games is a wonderful activity and we are grateful that Cortland stepped up to support the games after the State of New York exited due to budget difficulties.    No matter what our age many of us still enjoy competing with our peers in athletic endeavors.   Win or lose,  the participation in itself is sufficient reward.   I feel so fortunate to have learned tennis  when I was 9 years old.   Tennis can be a life long activity that can be cross-generational fun.   In our family children and grandchildren can be on the courts with us.   And we all have a great time.

Gerry With Medal and Other Geezers

Walt- Gold Medal : Viktor - Silver Medal

Warm Up Time