Golden years and Grand Slams for this slow-pitch league

For Beryl Amaron, 70, and Suzie Stephens, 45, age is just a number.

Amaron, who’s been playing with the Kelowna Senior Slo-Pitch Association (KSSA) for the last 26 years, said it’s been a very close group of people she’s gotten to know over the years.

“This is a really nice opportunity who for someone who is older to be able to continue to play and I started when I was 45 and it was a wonderful opportunity to be with people that were closer to my age than the youngsters,” she said. “Everybody’s so supportive of me and helpful and the knowledge here is amazing.”

Like all sports, it can be physically demanding and so she recommends a proper stretching and warmup routine.

However, the group understands some people may need a little extra help.

“We like people to be able to run to first base, but we will also put pinch runners for people. You don’t need to be a superstar in our [recreation] division, we accommodate everyone’s physical abilities,” she said. “We have that support system built into it.”

For Stephens, who is entering her second season, said while there’s been a learning curve, her teammates have been a big benefit.

“They were amazing because I’ve never played before, and I knew nothing and they helped me every step of the way,” she said. “Coming in at this age, learning something brand new was very difficult, but everybody was very welcoming.”

She added it’s also been a kick to see players who are her senior competing alongside her.

“Everybody’s older than me,” Stephens laughed. “It’s extremely inspiring.”

The KSSA is open for men 50+ and women 45+ years and is divided up into two divisions: competitive and recreational.

Rod Nystrom with the KSSA said while there’s not a desperate need for more players to join, it does ultimately help.

“We all get older, and players inevitably decide they can’t play anymore so you need new ones to replace them,” he said. “Last year we had three teams in competitive, five in recreational. We’d like to add one teams in each division moving forward.”

The season begins in early May and runs until the end of August on the Mission ball diamonds.

If anyone is interested in joining or wants more information they can reach out via email.