Thirty-seven athletes from Area 7 — which includes Bearspaw, Cochrane, Springbank, Bragg Creek, and Elbow Valley — will be representing the Zone 2 Big Country Seniors Sports Society (BCSSS) in the 2025 Alberta 55 Plus Games in Leduc, Aug. 21–24.
The local competitors earned their spots between March and June at qualifiers and will now join more than 1,100 seniors from across Alberta for the four-day provincial event.
BCSSS vice-president Doug Campbell is thrilled with the number of participants from Area 7. They make up a quarter of the zone's team.
Area 7 Athletes – 2025 Alberta 55 Plus Summer Games
(Qualified between March and June, advancing to provincials in Leduc, Aug. 21–24)
- Bocce: Jennifer MacKenzie, Shirley Smith, S-anon, and M-anon.
- Bridge: Lee and Linda Edwards, Nancy Gibbie, Lucia Ciupa, Babs Bastido and Ken Munro.
- Culture: Linda Edwards, MF-anon, and TH-anon.
- Cyclists: Clint Docken, Brent Gross and RH-anon.
- Darts: B-anon
- Floor curling: TH-anon
- Floor shuffleboard: Doreen and John Mattson and Doug Campbell.
- Golf: Kim Dumanowski, Trevor Beynon and Chris Logan.
- Pickleball: Vladi Hudec, Kim Pearson, Doug Gillman, Steve Katulka, Gary Hawkes, Colin Gilbert and G-anon
- Slo-pitch: Dan Muhlbach and Reg MacDonald
- Swimming: Joan Gunn-Allard.
- Track and field: Lynda Gross, Lyndon Emro and Brian Hill.
The winners from the provincial games usually qualify to go to nationals. Quebec City hosted the games last summer and Alberta sent about 300 athletes.
Zone 2, better known as Big Country, is one of eight geographic zones in Alberta 55 Plus. It spans a huge area from the B.C. to Saskatchewan borders, stretching north from Sundre–Olds–Three Hills to south of Longview–High River–Empress, excluding Calgary, which is a separate zone.
Schedules haven’t been set yet for winter sports such as hockey, skiing, and curling, but they will likely take place sometime between November and February, Campbell explains.
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Campbell looks forward to the day Cochrane is in a position to host the 55 Plus Games.
“We have hosted curling in Cochrane, but we're talking about more than 20 sports, so we don't quite have the facilities to do all of that yet.”
While some participate for the love of competition, it’s the social aspect that makes the games special for most.
“Some are highly competitive, but most are just in it for the fun, and whether you finish first or last is sort of irrelevant. You get to make lots of new friends and tour a few new towns.”
“There are many new, lasting friendships that have resulted from participating in the games. We have been running since the late 1980s, and some people have taken part in 20 provincial games and 10 national games.”
Besides the games, several other events are organized in Zone 2 of Alberta 55+. Those interested in learning more can visit www.alberta55plus.ca or email Campbell at dec@cabsi.ca.