Veterans Score in Golden Age Games

A team of veteran athletes from the Sepulveda VA Medical Center has been striking gold and rekindling old friendships this week at the 10th annual Golden Age Games in Riverside.

The 18 men from the San Fernando Valley are among more than 400 veterans 55 and older from across the country who gathered in Southern California to compete at swimming, cycling, bowling, horseshoes, croquet, shuffleboard and other events.

“These guys train year-round for this and they treat it as their own Olympics,” said William Ball, a spokesman for the Sepulveda VA. “You can see the intensity on their faces when they’re competing. It’s serious.”

Sponsored by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs along with the Veterans of Foreign Wars and funded by a variety of corporations and service organizations, the weeklong Golden Age Games were created as “a showcase for the preventive and therapeutic value of sports,” according to a statement from the organizers.

The athletes, who all receive care at VA hospitals, compete for teams representing the medical facilities in their home areas.

Competitions, held this year at UC Riverside and the Riverside Convention Center, are divided into age groups with special categories for visually impaired and wheelchair athletes. Army (and D-Day) veteran Marty Fishman of Van Nuys is competing this year in his fourth Golden Age Games with considerable success. Fishman, 77, who is blind, won gold medals earlier this week in shuffleboard and horseshoes and also took the bronze in bowling.

“The games are inspiring,” he said. “It’s been so good mentally and physically for these guys to participate. Some of these fellows, through the years, have really come back because of this.”

Patty Jones, a rehabilitation therapist who serves as unofficial coach of the Sepulveda VA team, said that as of Thursday, local athletes had won 25 medals--nine gold, 12 silver and four bronze.

The competition will end tonight with closing ceremonies and a banquet.

“For me, the most impressive thing is the spirit of camaraderie you see out here,” Jones said.

Fishman agreed.

“The whole thing is attitude,” he said. “These friendships are so important to us I can’t even tell you.”