Huntsman Senior Games wrap up with busy Saturday: Photo gallery

Written by Andy Griffin
October 15, 2016
Huntsman Senior Games, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – After 30 years, the Huntsman World Senior Games is healthy and strong in southern Utah.

More than 11,000 senior athletes, age 50 and older, competed in a variety of sports, including the growing sport of Pickleball, which had 650 players itself.

HWSGslogoOther popular events at the Senior Games include basketball (held at the Washington City Community Center), volleyball (at the Dixie Center and other various locations) and softball (held at the Canyon’s Complex off Snow Canyon Parkway).

The Huntsman World Senior Games take place every October in St. George and the surrounding communities. In its 30th year, the Games have hosted hundreds of thousands of athletes and their families.

St. George mayor Jon Pike said he’s been inspired by many of the amazing stories he’s heard from the participants.

Huntsman Senior Games, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Huntsman Senior Games, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“There are 11 athletes that have participated in all 30 Games that are here again,” Pike said. “The founder is in his 90s. He’s playing tennis in these Games. Just a million stories like that.”

On the 30th anniversary, it’s appropriate that the Senior Games offers 30 different sports where athletes compete for gold, silver and bronze medals. From archery to volleyball, individual events to team sports, athletes take the field and prove that age is nothing more than a number.

Featured this year was the Global-Cup World Senior Volleyball Championships. This invitation-only tournament featured the very best men’s volleyball players in the world hailing from Canada, Russia, Switzerland and the United States. The teams are comprised of former World and National Champions.

For all the results from the 2016 HWSG, visit theHuntsman World Senior Games website.

St. George News photographer Robert Hoppie was able to catch a few of the events this second week and filed this photo gallery for us:

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andy Griffin has been in sports media since 1989 and has covered BYU, Utah State and the Utah Jazz as well as all sports in southern Utah. A journalism graduate of USU, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m. Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 28 years and has five children ages 13 to 25.

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