Jasmin Pettiford has bowled off and on for 30 years, but it wasn’t a consistent practice.
“The military kind of got in the way of some of that,” said Pettiford, who served two years in the Air Force and 16 years in the Army. “I was in the Desert Storm, they didn’t have a whole lot of anything but bombs.”
Now, Pettiford has been working on her strikes as she prepares for the National Veterans Golden Age Games, which some call the Veteran Olympics. It’s a sports-based wellness program that supports former military personnel who are 55 and older.
“In staying active you’re supposed to stay healthier and that’s the whole objective, is to keep us healthier longer,”she said.
The program began in 1985 to improve adults’ health through competitive sports. The games have since grown into an experience structured similarly to the Olympics with an opening ceremony, hefty medals for the top three winners and a new location every year. Athletes can choose from 21 events across three divisions: ambulatory, visually impaired and wheelchair. To keep things fair, participants also are split into eight age categories.
Athletes can compete in up to five sports and they’re required to practice each sport at least six times before the games. Local practices at the Concord Neighborhood Center on the southside are also open to veterans in recreational therapy who aren’t competing.
Pettiford just wanted to get her feet wet last year when she went to her first Veteran Olympics. This year, she’s determined to win at least one of her events, which include bowling and cornhole, at the competition June 27-July 2 in Tampa, Florida. The Richard L. Roudebush Veterans’ Administration Medical Center in Indianapolis, which is sending 15 competitors this year, pays for athletes’ hotel and travel the first year and their hotel the second year.
The local team, now called Hoosier Heroes, brought home two gold medals last year in horseshoes and shuffleboard. Dave Youngblood, who was in the Marine Corps for six months before injuring his knee, won gold for horseshoes in the category for ambulatory men ages 65-69. He’s been playing horseshoes for four years and practices at his neighbor’s house three to four times a week when there’s good weather.
For Youngblood’s second year, he’ll compete in multiple events, such as horseshoes, ping pong and swimming. He’ll also be one of the youngest in the 70-74 age group, which he hopes will give him an advantage. Still, physical activity doesn’t come easily.
Youngblood — who practiced in a shirt with the phrase, “Do it in pain” — said he had issues recovering from a knee injury. That caused him to walk differently and led to lower back pain, but he doesn’t let that hold him back.
“A lot of these people, including myself, have really bad pain levels,” Youngblood said. “The pain is real, it is there, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go and participate in the sporting events.”
Using exercise to overcome self-isolation, depression
Physical ailments aren’t the only thing many veterans are battling. Making adult friends can be difficult, leading some veterans to self-isolate.
Bridget Lockert is a recreational therapist at the Roudebush VA center and a coach for the Hoosier Heroes. She said the program is also beneficial for participants’ emotional health as they build camaraderie during practices and become friends with competitors from other states.
“Veterans have told me, ‘Hey, if I didn’t have this I’d be just at my home with my dog. I wouldn’t be socializing.’ That’s cool to hear because that means what we’re doing is important,” Lockert said.
Bill Dwyer, 85, is the oldest on the team, but he’ll make you break a sweat if you play him in table tennis. He said he’s held a paddle for much of his life, including when he served. For Dwyer, who also walks and rides a stationary bike everyday, exercise has been an important outlet as he adjusts to life after the death of his friends and wife.
“I do fight depression,” Dwyer said. “You’re not as active, a lot of your friends have passed away, things that you used to do with them are gone — all those things you fight.”
Dwyer said preparing for the Veteran Olympics has been great because he enjoys getting to know his teammates and looks forward to competing. He said he’s fortunate to still function at his age and plans to give it his all during his events, which includes table tennis, badminton and cornhole.
“I’m not going there just to play,” Dwyer said. “If I don’t make it, I don’t make it, but my goal is to win. No second place or bronze or whatever.”
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Mirror Indy reporter Elizabeth Gabriel covers the south side of Marion County. Contact her at elizabeth.gabriel@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X at @_elizabethgabs.
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