Manager of the Littleport Leisure Centre Andy Rutterford replies – No!
As I am getting a lot closer to my pension date, I think to myself should I still be participating in sport, is it time for me to sit back and relax? Well when I look at the number of participants who regularly take part in our Mature & Active sessions and I realise that many of them are 10 – 20 years older than me and in some cases 20 – 30 years older than me, I would like to think that with God’s grace and modern medicine I should continue participating until the body finally surrenders and the mind tells me to act my age.
When I was a lot younger I regularly played football, cricket, golf, athletics, swimming, tennis, table tennis and badminton, not that I excelled in any of them, but sport was to me like ambrosia is to the gods.
Now I know that as we all get older we should slow down a little and take things steady, but whatever we do we should not just retire from all sports with that age old adage: “I’m too old for that!”
At the Mature and Active sessions which are run every Wednesday & Friday morning, from 10am to 12 noon at the Leisure Centre anyone over the age of 55 can take part in Badminton, Table-Tennis, Carpet Bowls, Archery Keep-Fit Classes or a good workout in the gym for the princely sum of £3.50, which includes most senior citizens’ favourite tipple, ‘a nice cup of tea’.
Not that age stops any of our participants from being competitive, you should see how some of them run around, even though they may be chasing lost causes with such a strong desire to win, you could be forgiven for thinking that they were all still teenagers.
If you want to join in with the Mature and Active classes, please don’t be put off by me saying how competitive some participants are, there are a lot more who just come down for the social aspect and to take part in some of the activities in a more leisurely manner. You don’t need to be a member of the Leisure Centre to take part or book your place, simply turn up on your preferred day.