Newcastle’s 6th Annual Golden Games
The Golden Games were an initiative of the Premier's Office in conjunction with the Department of Sports and Recreation and were introduced to luncheon clubs and old age service centres across the Amajuba District.
Local senior citizens participated in the sixth annual Active Seniors Golden Games on Thursday, August 13.
The Golden Games were an initiative of the Premier’s Office in conjunction with the Department of Sports and Recreation and were introduced to luncheon clubs and old age service centres across the Amajuba District. Other stakeholders in this event included the Department of Social Development, Department of Health and district municipalities.
Every year during July and August, the games are hosted and winning participants are selected to represent their district in the provincial games to be held on August 26, 27 and 28, in Margate, South Coast. Success at the provincial games could mean participating on a national level.
The games are hosted in an effort to promote an active, healthy lifestyle among senior citizens and curb illnesses caused by lack of regular physical exercise. All other senior citizens, aside from members of luncheon clubs and service centres, who are above the age of 60 are eligible to participate.
The challenges set up for participants are fairly simple in nature. These challenges include distance running from 100 to 800 metres, ball pass-and-throw and ring-the-stick to name a few.
Apart from the Newcastle Municipality, that sponsored two buses to transport participants to the event, this year’s games lacked participation from local districts, as municipalities did not have the funds to sponsor their participation.
“I would like to thank the Amajuba District Mayor, our sponsors and the various departments involved in making the event a success. We hope to see our local participants placed in the top five districts at the upcoming provincial games this year”, said Rajesh Ramdaw, chairperson of the Golden Games.
