Alease Brooks, 93, participates in the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics every year. Anyone over 50 can register this month for the games, which take place in September and October. Photo courtesy of Northern Virginia Senior Olympics

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“You never know what you can do until you try.”

—C.S. Lewis

The Tobias family of Annandale, Virginia, wasn’t one to sit around.

With seven children, all of whom played sports, parents Joyce and Thomas Tobias kept busy, shuttling kids to soccer games and gymnastics meets, coaching wrestling and leading family bike rides. In the late 1990s, when the kids were grown, the couple biked across the country together.

“I guess you could call us athletic,” Joyce Tobias said. “Having seven children, that’s athletic itself.”

So it wasn’t a stretch when they started participating in the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics (NVSO): first swimming, then cycling. For the past 25 years the games have been an annual ritual for the couple, now 88 and 93 and living in Sterling, Virginia.

They’ve even passed the torch to their daughter Ann Chaney, 61. After watching her parents from the sidelines for years, Chaney, a triathlete, now joins them in the bike races (in a different age category).

“Anybody should try it out,” Chaney said. “It’s perfect for somebody who wants to be competitive but also for someone who’s never even done a race. … There’s definitely a lot of camaraderie. People finish the race and go back and cheer on other people,” Chaney said.

Many events for all abilities

More than 1,200 people from Northern Virginia competed in the games last year. Of the dozens of events to choose from, the most popular include pickleball (of course), swimming and indoor track.

This year sees some changes: The organizing committee has brought back the weightlifting event and added rock climbing and darts.

But you don’t have to be a triathlete to compete in the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics. Some of the events, like bocce, horseshoes and poker, are games of skill. Others, like Sudoku, cribbage and mahjong, fall into the intellectually strenuous category.

There’s no upper age limit, so even nonagenarians can compete.

Arlingtonian Alease Brooks, who is 93, has participated in as many as 10 events every year for the past 20 years, including pickleball, long jump and sprints.

“People think I’m crazy, but I enjoy being old and being able to do the kinds of things that I can still do,” said Brooks, who plays pickleball four times a week in addition to bowling, golfing and teaching an exercise class.

“It’s not about age,” she said. “It’s about doing what you can do at that age.”

Launched in 1982

The Northern Virginia Senior Olympics took shape 46 years ago. Back in 1980, both Fairfax County and Falls Church organized competitions for their older residents. Betsy Bailey, director of the Falls Church senior center, worked to join forces with other jurisdictions, and Del Wilson, a Burke school administrator, was an early organizer of the effort.

“In the summer of 1982, Fairfax County and Falls Church got together with Loudoun County and decided to call themselves the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics,” explained Ray Kaminski, one of the 80 participants in the first games, in a 2022 interview.

The inaugural events took place at George Mason University’s athletic facility in Fairfax.

“We were very fortunate to have a bunch of very dedicated people who were committed and wanted to keep organizing the Senior Olympics,” Kaminski said.

Volunteers are just as essential to the games today. They act as judges, timers and organizers for 90 events, held in 30 locations across Northern Virginia. Many volunteers are longtime participants in the games as well.

That was the case for Michael Coleman, current chair and treasurer of the NVSO. In 2014 he signed up for the rowing event, won a gold medal, and asked then-chair Herb Levitan how he could help out.

“I said, ‘Herb, this is just a really great idea. What more can I do, other than giving a contribution with my registration fee?’ He said, ‘Well, you could join the [organizing] committee,’ so I did,” Coleman said.

Levitan himself got involved in the games two decades ago. After he retired in 2005, his wife spotted an article about the games and encouraged him to sign up for a swim race.

“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Levitan recalled.

He was pleasantly surprised by his time, he said, and even more impressed by his fellow swimmers, who congratulated him and suggested he swim at the state senior games.

“This encouragement is typical of the spirit of the Senior Olympics at all levels,” said Levitan, who’s still active as a participant as well as NVSO’s registrar, fundraising and events chair. “Competitors cheer each other on.”

Camaraderie shines

At every event, from pickleball to canasta, it’s not uncommon for strangers to compliment each other, encourage each other or just strike up a conversation.

“Meeting all the people was actually one of the things that has kept me coming back,” Coleman said.

“You meet people from all different walks of life, and they have so many different stories. They have so many different takes on things — as well as different levels of ability and motivation. That has been the most rewarding thing for all the hours that I put in as a volunteer.”

Stop by any event and you’ll see proud grandchildren, friends and volunteers snapping photos and hugging their family members afterward. The games are a mini-reunion for participants, too. Some people count on seeing each other at the games year after year.

Coleman, for instance, looks forward to catching up with his rowing friends every September.

“We’ve been doing it for a decade. We like to compete against each other, but at the same time you get to meet with them and talk to them afterward.”

Low price, unlimited events

The games are sponsored by local city and county governments, including Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William counties, as well as Alexandria and Falls Church.

In addition, these companies provide support: AARP Virginia, The Beacon Newspapers, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Erickson Senior Living, Falcons Landing, Johns Hopkins Health Plans, The Mather Tysons, Seniors Helping Seniors, United Healthcare, Vinson Hall and the Woodlands Retirement Community.

That sponsorship means the cost to sign up is just $20 — not a bad deal, considering you can sign up for as many events as you want, even if you aren’t an expert.

“The ‘open enrollment’ policy and the enthusiastic support of fellow participants encourage people to sign up for multiple events and to try out events that they had never tried before,” Levitan said, who has done as many as 20 to 30 events in some years.

Spectators are welcome at all events, and the diving competition usually draws a crowd. Some people just come to watch and cheer for intrepid older Virginians who give it their all.

That’s how Ann Chaney of Bristoe got involved, watching her mother’s swim races for five years. Chaney would also drop off her parents at the start of the cycling racecourse and wait for them to cross the finish line.

“They were there for me for many years,” she said, “so why not be there for them?”

The 2026 Northern Virginia Senior Olympics will take place from September 9 through October 4, 2026. Registration opens on July 6 and closes August 24. For a list of events and to sign up, visit nvso.us.