{"id":14578,"date":"2023-06-11T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-11T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=14578"},"modified":"2023-06-12T06:47:42","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T06:47:42","slug":"recreational-therapist-leads-veterans-to-gold-at-golden-age-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=14578","title":{"rendered":"Recreational therapist leads Veterans to gold at Golden Age Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Often, the success of a coach can be determined by the success of their athletes. This was exhibited at the 37th National Veterans Golden Age Games when the recipients of the George Gangi Award and the Veterans Canteen Service Challenge Award both hailed from St. Louis VA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although both Veterans were recognized for their individual determination and willpower, the support they received from their coach and teammates drove them to exceed in their fitness goals.<\/p>\n

Sally Goldsborough, recreation therapist with St. Louis VA, has been coaching her team for the Golden Age Games for the past eight years. The triumphs of her Veterans are a testament to her devotion and determination.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely love coaching the Golden Age Games. These Veterans are out there and work so hard and give every single thing they have to these games. They try hard not only to win but for their own personal best,\u201d Goldsborough said.<\/p>\n

Five Veterans on the team will be 87<\/h2>\n

This year, 15 St. Louis Veteran athletes are attending the Golden Age Games in person and another 10 are competing in the At-Home Games. The youngest team member is 60 and there are five athletes on the team who are going to be 87 years old. Every one of them gives it their all, but Goldsborough says the key is they have support.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to watch. I only hope when we\u2019re that age, we\u2019re all just like them because we would have a better life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a>
Sally (red jacket): \u201cThe team spends time together which gives them positive support.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Before Goldsborough became a coach, she was a lifetime athlete. This experience gave her personal insight into best practices for training and maintaining fitness levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first took over the team they only trained for a brief time before the games. But I knew there was more value if our team trained all year round. It not only helps them get better at the event but also to learn the rules better and understand the fundamentals of the activities,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The team also spends time together outside of training which gives them a network of positive peer support as well. Goldsborough explained social interaction is also very important at this age because some of the Veterans on the team have lost friends or spouses, and loneliness can creep in. When someone in the group is sick, everyone rallies around them and supports them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can call me when they need me.\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u201cWe are like a family. We\u2019re very cohesive and everybody has everybody\u2019s back. All my Vets know they can call me whenever they need me and they know I\u2019m accessible to them,\u201d Goldsborough said.<\/p>\n

Over the past few years, the team has almost doubled in size and Goldsborough has already started planning for the next steps in their evolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to take us to a higher level and start working with some of my senior-level athletes to start building on those fundamentals. The goal is to give them a little more challenge,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She stressed that Veterans can stay active and healthy without being an athlete.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had Veterans come to me and tell me they\u2019ve never been athletic a day in their life. It\u2019s not about that. It\u2019s about getting you moving and getting you involved in something that gives you a purpose. It changes your life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Often, the success of a coach can be determined by the success of their athletes. This was exhibited at the 37th National Veterans Golden Age Games when the recipients of the George Gangi Award and the Veterans Canteen Service Challenge Award both hailed from St. Louis VA. Although both Veterans were recognized for their individual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":14580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[413,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golden-age-games","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14578"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14581,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14578\/revisions\/14581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}