2022 Florida Senior Games, presented by Humana, Features New Facilities in Florida's Sports Coast

Thanks to the new agreement with Florida’s Sports Coast to host the 2022-24 Florida Senior Games, presented by Humana, in Pasco County, comes new facilities for Florida’s Finest Athletes, age 50 and over, to showcase their talents and meet up with old and new friends.

Florida’s Sports Coast is located just north of Tampa, Hillsborough County and Clearwater, Pinellas County.  Pasco County stretches from Highway 19 and the Gulf of Mexico, on the west, to Interstate 75, and then some, on the east side of the county. Cities hosting events, December 3-11, in Pasco County, include Land O’ Lakes, Lutz, San Antonio, Trinity, Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills.

While Florida’s Sports Coast came through in a pinch to assist the Florida Senior Games, in December 2020, with events held at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus and the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis and Wellness Center, there have been quite a few changes at those two facilities.

The Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus, in Wesley Chapel, hosts Basketball Shooting and 3-on-3 Basketball, in the Advent Health Arena and Archery on the Soccer Fields on the west side of the building, on Saturday, December 3. The following weekend of December 10-11, Volleyball will be played in the Arena.

Since 2020, a hotel has been built within steps of the front door of the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Complex.  Once athletes enter the front door, they will be greeted with a coffee bar and concession stand with plenty of high top tables to enjoy coffee, snacks or lunch.  Athletes will then go through more doors to find a pair of gymnasiums, of equal size for their competitions. The 98,000 square foot facility opened in January 2020 and is now home to events nearly every weekend and programs for local athletes during the week.

The Sarah Vande Berg Tennis and Wellness Center hosted Pickleball in 2020 and will see action in all nine days of the 2022 Florida Senior Games.  Tennis will be played on the Har-Tru Clay Courts from Saturday, December 3 through Thursday, December 8. Pickleball begins on Thursday, December 8 and runs through Sunday, December 11, on all eight of the facilities courts with the possibility of expanding to 12 courts using tennis courts nearby.  Padel, making its Florida Senior Games debut will be played Friday, December 9 through Sunday, December 11, on the three walled courts near the pickleball courts.

The Sarah Vande Berg Clubhouse features a restaurant with a well-rounded menu and bar.  The Grand Opening of The Well at SVB, a short- and long-term rental facility, is set for November 3. The Well at SVB offers the healthiest, chemical-free, modern living standards for an active lifestyle. It is located on the campus of Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center and will be available for athletes during the 2022 Florida Senior Games. 
 
Pin Chasers, in Zephyrhills, hosts Bowling and Team Bowling on Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, December 4. The East Pasco/Zephyrhills location is one of the three in the Tampa Bay area.  The Zephyrhills location has 32 lanes that can accommodate up to 192 bowlers at one time. It also features an energetic bar area complete with sofas and TVs where bowlers can watch their favorite college and NFL football games with a cold beverage.
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San Antonio Elementary School, in Dade City, will be the staging area and start/finish line for the 20K and 40K Road Races on Sunday, December 4.  The course will be run in a sparsely populated area of Pasco County on long stretches of roads featuring uphill climbs and flat surfaces.  San Antonio Elementary School offers plenty of parking for athletes with easy access to the start/finish line.

The internationally famous Saddlebrook Resort installed a permanent 18-Hole FootGolf course on 18 Holes of Golf, in 2021, and hosts the inaugural round of FootGolf in the 2022 Florida Senior Games, on Saturday, December 10. The amazing course and beautiful Florida weather awaits introduced "The Best game Ever Invented" to the Resort guests, local community, general public and now Florida Senior Games athletes. The Saddlebrook Resort course is located just 15 minutes away from one of the few Crystal Lagoons in the country, Epperson Lagoon and near the Tampa Premium Outlets.

The Fox Hollow Golf Club, in Trinity, hosts 18-hole golf on Monday, December 5. Fox Hollow is one of the premier golf courses in the state and was recently rated 57th by Golf Digest’s Top 75 Courses Accessible to the Public in Florida. Since the Creighton Family purchased Fox Hollow in 2013, upgrades have been added to the course each year. In his design of Fox Hollow, the legendary Robert Trent Jones, Sr. created a layout as picturesque as it is playable. Quite simply, Fox Hollow offers a good, fair test of golf.

Other new facilities being used include Cypress Creek High School, in Lutz, for Track and Field, Saturday, December 11 and Sunday, December 12.  The Zephyrhills Shuffleboard Club hosts two days of competition, also on December 11 and 12 and the Land O’Lakes Recreation Center, is the site for Powerlifting on Sunday, December 11.

Swimming will be held at the Temple Terrace Family Recreation Center the first weekend of competition, Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, December 4.

Registration continues through Monday, November 14 for the 2022 Florida Senior Games on the individual pages of www.floridaseniorgames.com.  Hotel accommodations can also be found on the individual sports pages with special rates for Florida Senior Games athletes.

We look forward to seeing you in Florida's Sports Coast/Pasco County, in December. The 2022 Florida Senior Games, presented by Humana, is an annual program of the Florida Sports Foundation, the official sports promotion and development organization of the State of Florida, and held in conjunction with Florida's Sports Coast.
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Now in its 31st year, over 56,000 athletes have registered to compete in the annual Olympic-style Sports Festival for athletes age 50 and over, since 1992.