WATCH FOR the Florida International Senior Games & State Championships online registration website to be busy as the deadline the 2013 State Championships is Friday, November 22.
More than 1,100 senior athletes, age 50 and over, are currently registered and nearly 2,000 are expected to compete in 24 sports over the nine days of competition in Lee County, December 7-15.
To accommodate all of the senior athletes, volunteers are needed for all sports events throughout the week in Lee County. Visit the Florida Senior Games volunteer page to find out the duties that will need to be performed. All volunteers receive a free t-shirt for their time and talents.
Athletes registering will have the opportunity to be a part of a few new things to the 2013 Florida International Senior Games & State Championships.
The Coconut Point Florida Blue Center will host the return of the Celebration of Athletes, Saturday evening, December 14, beginning at 5:00 p.m. This event provides athletes the only opportunity to gather together as one over the nine days of competition.
All athletes and guests, who RSVP by December 7, are invited to join the festivities for vendors, food, music, guest speakers, entertainment and the presentation of the 2012 Athlete of the Year Awards to Linda Frisch, of The Villages, and James Richling, of Port St. Lucie.
It’s the only time Senior Games athletes will be able to swap tales of athletic accomplishments with new friends and best of all – IT’S FREE!
Earlier that day, the Coconut Point Florida Blue Center will host one of the two new sports to the 2013 Games as Bag Toss joins the Senior Games roster. The competition will be held using United Bag Toss League Rules.
The other new sport to the 2013 Games is Golf Croquet, to be played Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15 at the Estero Recreation Center.
Finally, Masters Tennis will be introduced as a demo event of the Games, at Three Oaks Community Park in Fort Myers, Wednesday, December 10 and Thursday, December 11. This event is taking place through a partnership with the Florida Sports Foundation and the United States Tennis Association-Florida Section (USTA Florida). The demo (Wednesday) and free play day (Thursday) is free to the public.
WATCH FOR more 2014 Florida Grapefruit League schedules to be released over the next few weeks. Six teams have already posted full schedules at the Florida Grapefruit League Web Site and two teams have partial schedules posted.
Fans of the Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Atlanta Braves (partial schedule) and Toronto Blue Jays (partial schedule) can start making their plans now for the 2014 Florida Spring Training season.
The season will begin the week of February 24, 2014 and run through the last week of March. Keep checking www.floridagrapefruitleague.com for more schedules, ticket information and all the latest on the 2014 Florida Spring Training season. Follow the 100-day countdown to Florida Spring Training with a Fun Fact a Day on Twitter @FlaSpringTrain.
WATCH FOR more than 1,000 out-of-state visitors to come to Florida for a Florida Sports Foundation granted event. The NJCAA Division I Women’s Soccer National Championship is being held in Brevard County with 12 teams in competition through Saturday.
The 2013 National Championship, hosted by Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne and Space Coast Sports, welcomes teams from 11 other states. Vying for the National Championship are Iowa Western; Paradise Valley (Arizona); Navarro (Texas); Darton State (Georgia); Butler (Kansas); Southern Maryland; Laramie County (Wyoming); Monroe College (New York); Owens (Ohio); St. Louis (Missouri) and Lake County (Illinois).
Four pools of three teams with pool play through Wednesday, followed by two semifinal games on Friday. The National Championship game will be played Saturday night at 7PM at Titan Stadium on the campus of Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne.
The Weekly “What to Watch For in Florida Sports,” is compiled by Florida Sports Foundation Director of Communications, Nick Gandy. Follow the Florida Sports Foundation on Facebook and on Twitter #fla_sports. Visit www.flasports.com for more information about the Florida Sports Foundation and the vibrant sports industry in the Sunshine State. Florida is Where The World Comes to Play.
floridasportsfoundation 