It’s a late-summer evening, and the mosquitoes are buzzing around the people watching soccer practice at Allendale Columbia School.
Half of the players are wearing neon-green vests to show which side they’re on in the fiercely fought battle playing out on the field.
“Gotta chase him! Gotta chase him!” one player yells as they move down the field, his coaxing quickly followed by good-natured name-calling and laughter.
The players on the school’s upper field this evening aren’t moving as quickly as the varsity team playing on the lower field. There’s a little less force behind the kicks.
And there’s another difference.
“All the green ones are the over-60,” Tomi Lahcanski said on the sideline as he prepared to join his teammates, many of whom have been playing together for more than 40 years. “We’re part of a team called Still Sporting, and Still Sporting goes back to the late ’70s.”
Lahcanski is working to help take them to a new level with the creation of an over-60 soccer tournament later this month — and ultimately, a formal league for the older athletes.
The players — along with the mostly 50-somethings competing against them — are among many older Americans playing sports.
That's a group that may be growing. The National Senior Games Association reports that participation in its summer national championships has grown from 2,500 in 1987, to 11,681 in 2023.
But other indicators demonstrate a need for far more physical activity in this age group. According to a report from the Center for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics, 13.9% of adults age 65 and older met federal physical activity guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities in 2022.
"For older adults, regular physical activity helps maintain physical functioning and reduces the risk of chronic conditions, including dementia, and also reduces the risk of falls and fall-related injuries," the report states.
Many on the Still Sporting team are lifelong athletes who started when they were students themselves. Some took it further; Lahcanski played for St. John Fisher University and in the Canadian National Soccer League, and he has played in the Rochester District Soccer League for 50 years.
Most of them look far younger than their ages, perhaps another benefit of the game they still play because of their love for it — and for each other.
“I’ve been on this team, played over-30, -40, -50, and now they're doing the over-60,” said Fraser Ritchie, who’s served as captain for some of that span. “So we’ve had a good run.
“If you get the right core,” he added, “nobody’s going to break them apart. ... The camaraderie and the people you meet through playing this game, it’s just fantastic. You can’t replace it.”
Ritchie, 67, lives in Hamlin and said it’s a 45-minute drive just for practice.
“But it’s well worth it, you know,” he said. “The older you get, it’s harder to keep moving and be around people that are in the same age, the same attitude. ... We like to rub each other the wrong way sometimes, but that’s what men do.”
The players clearly relish the competition.
Bob Johnson — “not from the Chevrolet dealership,” he quickly explained — said being able to join his teammates on the field is a highlight.
“This makes my week,” the Webster resident said, “when I can come Tuesday nights out here and play with these guys that I’ve played with, you know, for years and years and years.”
Ken DiStefano, 65, also of Webster, said he’s been playing soccer since the third grade. He’s been out of action for a while but is mounting a comeback at Lahcanski’s urging.
“I hung it up at 60, and then Tomi dragged me out of the mothballs for this tournament, and here I am,” he said with a laugh. "I gotta get in shape.”
The Over-60 Soccer Tournament that DeStefano is preparing for is set for Oct. 18 and 19 at Grace and Truth Sports Park in Greece. Lahcanski is organizing it for over-60 players from across the region and beyond.
The rules and format will be a little different: slide tackles and punts aren’t allowed, for example, and the eight-person teams will play on a half-sized field. The halves will be shorter, too, at 30 minutes instead of 45, and substitutions on the fly will be permitted.
Lahcanski said the tournament is a part of a broader vision.
The first step, he said, is to raise awareness about the opportunities for senior athletes through the tournament. The second is laying the foundation for the Forever Sporting Over-60 Soccer League, which ultimately will expand into other sports such as fencing, track, and walking. All of those promote active longevity, he says.
“I find that ... if you stop for a week or more, the body really shuts down,” said Lahcanski, 69, of Penfield. “And, you know, the lesson is: Keep on moving.
“Otherwise, you’re going to get all the problems,” he added.
Jose Sanisidro of Rochester is apparently living that lesson. He started playing as a teenager in Spain and never stopped. At 76, he’s the oldest athlete playing this evening.
“It’s in my blood,” he said during a brief break in the action. “I cannot quit that.”
Sanisidro said he would encourage anybody to play sports all their lives.
“It keeps you young,” he said. “I say it’s the best thing you can ever do in your life.”
