Volunteers are still needed for this year’s BC Seniors Games, which take place in Burnaby from August 21 to 25.
The 25th edition of the games, which are coming to Langley in 2014, are a great way for active seniors to get involved.
The 2013 Games will be held in Kamloops.
Information about the Games can be found at the website www.bcseniorsgames.org. All the details about sport schedules will be posted on the Burnaby host website one week prior to the games. There will be competitions in almost 30 sports from archery and badminton to lawn bowling, ice hockey, golf, tennis and track and field.
Included this year are such events as darts, dragon boat racing, pickleball, one-act plays and whist.
The BC Seniors Games is an annual, multi-sport event hosted by a different community each year. They are one of the largest games organized within BC with approximately 3,500 participants aged 55 plus from all over the province.
Activity of both mind and body has a beneficial effect on the health and well being of older adults. Sport and recreational development for seniors has a direct bearing on the quality of life for older British Columbians. That is why the games were first organized in 1987, when the society was formed.
The registered society is a volunteer-based, charitable organization and consists of an executive committee, 12 Zone directors and 12 Zone committees, who are responsible for organizing the administration and registration of the 244 sports participating in the Seniors Games.
For those people who would like to learn more about the organization of the games, or get involved, the society will hold its annual general meeting on Thursday, August 23 at 7 pm at the Hilton Metrotown Hotel, 6083 McKay Avenue in Burnaby.
The first Seniors Games were held in Vernon in 1988 with more than 600 participants. Through the years that number has grown substantially with the variety of sports and events. The games include a banquet and dance as part of the social activities.
This year’s Games will honor past society presidents and those presidents of the former host communities. They will be invited to a special presentation at the opening ceremonies.
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Older workers in 2008 were significantly less likely to participate in job-related training than their counterparts in the core working-age population.
A recent study on job-related training of older workers released by Statistics Canada, found younger employees reported receiving more job-related training than their older counterparts. About 45 per cent of workers aged 25 to 54 took at least one job-related course or program, compared with 32 per cent of those aged 55 to 64.
Several factors were linked with significantly lower participation in training among older workers. These included lower annual incomes, low educational attainment, temporary employment and work in blue-collar or service jobs. Workers in the private sector, particularly those in goods-production industries, were also less likely to take job-related training.
This study examined the incidence and intensity of job-related training among workers aged 55 to 64 and also examined employer support and barriers preventing individuals from participating in training they wanted or needed to take.