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Gloria Basnight practicing her golf swing.

Senior Olympics Attract Area Residents

Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter
New Journal & Guide
 
      Gloria Basnight,  68, has a twinge of arthritis in parts of her body, but it has not slowed her down one bit.  
     More active than many younger people, Basnight will be among the 10,000 seniors who are expected to participate in the upcoming annual Senior Olympics. Active folks, age 50 and older, participate in over 40 events, including bowling, golf, swimming, various card games, and tennis.
       The annual Senior Olympics is sponsored by the Norfolk Department of Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces May 5-8.  The opening ceremonies will take place on the Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, as well as at the Ocean View Golf Course, the Norfolk Wellness Center, and various senior centers. The senior athletes will compete in the 25th and Silver Anniversary event.
       This year,  Basnight said she will be competing in bowling, golf and horseshoes, but she will not limit herself to those three areas of competition. She said she may check out the jump rope competition and other teams where one more person is needed to fill out team or individual competition rosters.
  Last year, Basnight claimed golden medals in bowling, winning a bronze in horseshoes.
      Basnight, who has been involved in the Norfolk Senior Olympics since 2003, said she has been active in one sport or another all her life. She played on her junior and senior softball teams in her hometown, Columbia, S. C.
       She is retired now and has more time to devote to her favorite sports which include bowling, speed walking and golf.
       She has been bowling since her days as a nurse at Norfolk Community Hospital (NCH), where she played for the facility’s league. Now she has the second highest average in the NRHA/Good Times Bowling League.
       Basnight is known as the “Tiger Woods” of the senior leagues of golf. In all of the sporting events, she participates in the 65 and over  brackets.
       “Secretly I attended this golf clinic on my own and then I began reading books on technique and  the game itself,” said Basnight.  My grand kids ask me ‘you do that?’ They are amazed

Posted April 23, 2008

   
because of my age.  I am out there every week. If I drive outside of town I will take my clubs and find some place to hit a few balls. When I am out there on the course, all of my worries and troubles disappear. I am in another zone.”   
      Since Tiger Woods began his stellar career, more African Americans are taking up golf clubs and venturing out on to the links.  Mrs. Basnight says that most of the time she is the only African American on the course, but “I can always count on somebody asking me to partner with them,” she said.
       Basnight said that she watches sport avidly on the tube, especially golf. She was disappointed when Tiger Woods did not capture his third green jacket and the master’s tourney two weeks ago.
       “Sometimes there are good days, and there are bad days,” she said referring to Woods’ recent run of bad luck. “Golf can tear down barriers. People ask me why hit a small ball and then walk after it? First, I like the competition. It is a great way to exercise.”
       Basnight said that although she participates in a number of sporting activities, she limits them to ones that are not highly strenuous and are easy on her aging bones and joints. She says that before any event, whether it be in the upcoming Senior Olympiad on the golf court, or the bowling alley, she prepares her body by warming up, by stretching her various muscles.  She watches her diet to make sure she is physically ready for whatever sport she takes up on a given day.
       She says that staying active helps her cope with her arthritis. She has the disease in her right hand, the one she bowls with. “The activity keeps that hand working and I do not have any problems with it.”
       “When I am trying to recruit one of friends who is not active at all to participate in something, they always tell we ‘they can’t,’ ” said Mrs. Basnight.  “I hate that attitude. There is no such word. The benefits of being active are many. I just wish more people my age would realize it.”
       For more information about the Norfolk Senior Olympic Games, call 757 441-2109.

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