Four Westlock-based athletes have done the community proud by bringing home some hardware from the 2012 Canada 55 Plus Games.
The team of four bocce players, comprising George Oko, Vivian Oko, Neil McMillan and Wanda McMillan, battled their way through the round-robin tournament to a third-place finish in Sydney, N.S., from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1.
“We’re enjoying ourselves, but we were only able to bring home the bronze medal,” George Oko said after the tournament.
The team is no stranger to a high level of competition, having brought home the gold medal from the 2011 Alberta 55 Plus Summer Games in Fairview. The level of competition, as well as an unusual playing field, caused the team a few problems this time around.
“The courts were really, really difficult to play on. We had a lot of difficulty with them because they were so sloped,” Oko said. “Sometimes only two of the eight balls would stay on the court.”
The weather was not much of a factor, however. It was more or less sunny, despite some windy days.
The winning team hails from the Yukon, while the runners up spend their summers rolling on P.E.I., he added.
Looking ahead, Oko says the team doesn’t have any concrete plans for their next competition. They don’t play the sport for competitive purposes, it’s more about the social aspect of it.
“It’s a pleasure thing,” he said. “This is not a big sporting event for us, we do it on our lawns and home and it’s more about being active and having fun.”
Nonetheless, he said the team will look to compete at the Zone 5 tournament this spring, which will qualify teams to take part in the 2013 Alberta 55 Plus Summer Games, set to be hosted in Westlock and Barrhead.
“We’ll try out for our zone again, like we did the year before when we went to Fairview,” he said. “It’s all a stepping stone — you have to win zones then get to provincials.”
Oko added that he thinks having this type of friendly competition is a great thing for seniors, bringing social as well as health benefits.
“For seniors I think it’s a good thing,” he said. “You keep active and you keep healthy.”
