Senior women find joy on the softball field: Meet the Colorado Peaches
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Sarah Matusek Staff writer
| Lakewood, Colo.
She swings and she鈥檚 off. At a ballpark outside Denver, nonagenarian Magdalena McCloskey sprints toward first base.听听
鈥�The more I ask of my body, the more it gives,鈥� says the slugger in an orange beanie.听
鈥淢aggie,鈥� as she鈥檚 known on the field, is a longtime member of the Colorado Peaches. The softball club welcomes听women players from their 50s through 90s, though the number that counts is the one on their back. That鈥檚 because the Peaches find joy 鈥� together as teammates 鈥� in the later innings of life.听
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onJoy doesn鈥檛 take a timeout with age. Older women in Colorado find it on the field.
鈥淲e all think we鈥檙e in middle school,鈥� says 70-something Midge Kral in her green and white uniform. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 think about age 鈥� we don鈥檛. You just think about how wonderful you are.鈥�听听
In competitions, the women split up according to age categories, but they practice together. On听this final Tuesday of the month, they鈥檙e scrimmaging. Typically, players are divided into Turnovers vs. Schnapps, but today听for the last game of the season, held at a park in Lakewood, Colorado, it鈥檚 the Tricks vs. Treats in honor of Halloween. Before warmup, Ms. McCloskey helps decorate a dugout with fake cobwebs.听
鈥淚s this too much?鈥� asks practice coach Suzy Ando in a freakish, baby-like mask.听A teammate giggles.听
Joy is the point. The Peaches cheer as teammates round the bases and send the neon yellow ball arcing toward the clouds. They also call out encouragement when a swing is botched.
鈥淵EAH, baby, GO! Yeah! Yeah!鈥� yells Ms. Kral, a former school librarian, to a Tricks teammate up at bat.听
Many older U.S. adults are, of course, swimming, cycling, pickleballing their way through retirement 鈥撎齛nd many compete. The National Senior Games Association reports that this year saw the second largest turnout for its National Senior Games with just over 12,000 athletes. Were it not for the pandemic, the 2022 games, which were delayed a year, could have been record setting, says NSGA spokesperson Del Moon.
鈥淚 can say from surveys and direct interviews with athletes that their passion for athletics was increased if anything,鈥� writes Mr. Moon in an email. 鈥淭hey were angry and frustrated that tracks and pools and gyms were closed and most could not wait to 鈥榞et back into the game.鈥欌��
Initiated by former physical education teacher Chloe Childers, the Peaches formed and began competing nationally in the 鈥�90s 鈥� and won medals.听This month, the oldest players received an honorary gold medal at the Huntsman World Senior Games in Utah for creating its first 79+ age bracket in women鈥檚 softball. (With no other teams old enough to challenge them, the Peaches ended up competing against younger players 鈥� and won one out of five games.)
鈥淲e鈥檝e always had people from other states ask if they could join our team, because we always had so much fun,鈥� says Ms. Childers by phone from her home in Greeley, Colorado.听
She鈥檚 among Peaches who graduated college before听Title IX听became law in 1972 to correct sex discrimination in schools. They鈥檝e made up for lost time.
And why name the team after fruit?
鈥淲e鈥檝e got the in the whole country!鈥� she laughs.
Not even the pandemic could foul their plans 鈥撎齮hey simply practiced in masks. The group is roughly 35 to 45 women (some of whom live in other states). Membership has evolved over time,听and the group is in the process of restructuring.
Ms. Childers, who used to play center field 鈥渂ecause I was the fastest runner,鈥� has retired her glove. But daughter Christy Childers says her mom still rules at table tennis with a killer backhand.
At the Tuesday game, fans behind the chain-link fence include some from Hilltop Reserve Senior Living Community in Denver, here for fellow resident Barb Johnson. She鈥檚 a recent recruit in her 80s known on the field as 鈥淢om.鈥� Nicknames are one expression of the togetherness that keeps the Peaches coming back 鈥� beyond the pursuit of mastering pop fly balls.
Take Dora Haynes, who joined this spring. Since moving to Colorado from Texas five years ago to be near her grandson, 鈥淚 guess I鈥檝e kind of felt a little isolated,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e been learning how to be a grandparent for those five years, and kind of put myself on the back burner. So this definitely brought me out.鈥�
Husband Ed Haynes has witnessed her transformation from his bleacher seat.
鈥�Every week she looks forward to getting with these ladies,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ow she鈥檚 got a big family.鈥�
The camaraderie has also moved Laura Clemons, who lost her husband in 2018. 鈥�This gives me an out to, you know, not think about that,鈥� says the athlete.听
For others, participation is a personal triumph.
鈥�I went through cancer, and they were still here when I came back. I didn鈥檛 know if I could crawl out of my home, but I have, and this team鈥檚 meant everything to me,鈥� says Sue Stantejsky. Here she鈥檚 called 鈥淩ed Sue,鈥� because she used to have red hair.
In the end, her team, the Tricks, beat the Treats 2-0. All players high-five in a show of good sportswomanship. Then they pass around print editions of the Greeley Tribune, which recently the group, and buckets of Halloween candy. Ms. Kral trades her baseball cap for a headband of cat ears.听
How will she spend the offseason?听
Winter conditioning, says Ms. Kral. So she can come back and hit it 鈥渙ut of the park.鈥�听
