A Different Kind of Competition: The Inter-Community Games

Every few months, these athletes gather at a new arena. They wear matching uniforms. They eye up the competition.

And before the games begin, they share coffee and pastries. There’s also a chance to say hello to the friends they met last time.

Did we mention they are in their 70s, 80s and 90s?

The group behind the Inter-Community Games sets out to bring together seniors from several retirement campuses in the Berks County region. Yes, they admit, older folks can share aches and pains. But that’s not an excuse to just sit around.

“Get out there and be as active as you can,” says Barbara Jacobs, who helps organize Wii bowling at Phoebe Berks. She celebrated her 81st birthday in August. “Everybody’s different. We try to encourage people to at least try to get up and do things.”

The task force at Phoebe Berks in Wernersville has spent the past six years bringing people together to be active and social, as well was for friendly competition. It’s also a rare opportunity to get to know people in other retirement communities.

A Spark of an Idea

To think, it all started with some threadbare pool tables and a group of residents who wanted to get things done, their way of course.

Nick Jacobs noticed the pool tables at Phoebe Berks needed some work. So along with Rev. Richard Whitney and the late Don Kimberling, he asked the community’s administration for permission to solve the problem. They had a bigger picture, too: to add activities.

“We offered to form not a committee, a task force,” says Nick Jacobs, who turned 81 in September and is Barbara’s husband. “We didn't want to have anyone telling us what to do.”

The campus’ wellness program was just getting started, and Star High, executive director of Phoebe Berks, gave her blessing for the task force. She saw the benefit of active lifestyles.

“That is part of the longevity. The whole holistic idea of health, happiness, spiritual wellbeing,” High says. “Fitness just meshes into being happier. And if you’re happier, you’re going to live longer. That’s exactly what we’ve seen.”

After the pool tables were fixed, the group started weekly events, game nights and activities like a golf putting contest. Task force members looked at their own skills and taught their neighbors how to play pool, bocce and shuffleboard. A new 10,000-square-foot elevated deck at Phoebe called The Boardwalk was a great playground.

They hoped all of this would help get more people active.

“If people wish to sit in their rooms and vegetate, that is their choice, of course,” Nick Jacobs says. “We’re constantly trying to draw them out for friendship’s sake and for their own benefit and the lessening of dementia. Going inward into one’s self is not the best way to go. This is not meant to be a hermitage, for gosh sake. It’s meant to be a place of joy and friendship.”

The task force expanded to a dozen members, and Barbara was asked to join.

“We wanted to give the residents something more, something that’s fun and interesting. A lot of people retire to Florida and have shuffleboard,” she says. “We have shuffleboard. Or bocce, maybe you did that when you were younger. So try it. Maybe you can still do it and enjoy yourself while you do it. You’re helping yourself. You’re stretching your muscles. You’re on your feet. You’re being healthy.”

Barbara started a Wii bowling group at Phoebe. The retirement community got a few Wii systems for residents, who taught themselves or learned from their grandchildren. Then they offered to teach anyone interested.

These days, Phoebe’s Wii bowling team practices every Wednesday. That practice pays off. Most members of the team regularly reach scores over 200.

“It’s just a lot of fun,” Barbara says. “Even people in wheelchairs can do it.”

Gearing up for the Games

The task force members were having so much fun, why not invite more people?

Members reached out to other communities in the region. Each community offers their own round-up of games, depending on their sites and their expertise. The larger sites host the dozens of people who show up, some as athletes and some as spectators.

The games happen two or three times a year at communities including The Highlands at Wyomissing, Country Meadows in Wyomissing, Landis Homes near Lititz, Cornwall Manor, Tel Hai in Honey Brook, Garden Spot Village in New Holland, The Terrace at Phoebe Allentown and Stone Ridge Retirement Living in Myerstown.

On game day, the athletes show up in the morning, break bread and then split up to compete. There are games like pool and ping pong; card games like cribbage and pinochle; and Scrabble.

The top athletes and card sharks don’t win prizes.

“It’s not really who won,” Barbara Jacobs says. “It’s just a general having fun and having a pleasant day.”

There’s still a competitive side, even if there are no prizes.

“I’m not going to say they’re out for blood, but they are out to win,” High says. “It’s almost like a buzz in the air. You can feel it throughout.”

Through the years, the athletes have made friends as well — with the competition.

“When they come here, you recognize them. ‘Oh, there’s so and so. I’m glad he came,’” Barbara says. “We try to sit with other residents from other communities. We try to get to know them. We have conversations. We talk about life and times.”

“We run into someone we see at the other communities,” says Nick, who often leads the pool contest and plays ping pong. “It’s just a very nice day spent with other senior citizens.”

Bill Davies, retired COO of Phoebe Ministries, remains a member of the task force and helps coordinate with staff at the different campuses. He loves seeing the different teams talking on game days.

“To see these folks intermingling at lunchtime with different groups from other facilities, sharing experiences — a lot of them became very good friends and socialize during game time — it’s really been a great thing,” Davies says.

There’s also lots of team pride in the rush to welcome visitors to their community. There are decorations, signs and banners. Plus, this is a great chance to see what other campuses look like and maybe get some ideas to bring home.

These are fun games, but they play an important role in quality of life. As residents become more active, that means they’re less likely to fall. The activity can postpone needing extra help for daily life, Davies says.

Friendly Competition has its Perks

Making new friends could be equally important. Harvard School of Public Health researchers found evidence that elderly people with active social lives may have slower rates of memory decline and actually have lower mortality rates.

The games have been such a blast, the task force’s 12 members organize an in-house senior Olympics-type event every June at Phoebe Berks. It was named the Don Kimberling Memorial Games this year after he passed.

For the Inter-Community Games, the planning continues, and the practice is ongoing.

In the past, High has reminded the task force that the events might need a tweak to avoid going stale.

That hasn’t happened.

“In fact,” says High, “it has grown and is even more exciting than it was before.”