July 11, 2025 • 18 mins
Brenda and Linda from the CT Senior Womens Basketball League join the show to talk the history of their league.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Well, these are two of the coolest ladies I think
we've ever talked to and joining us now in the
studio from the Connecticut Senior Women's Basketball League Brenda and Linda.
And this is for either one of you, ladies. Let's
go back to the beginning. How did this all start?
Was this like, Hey, let's just go down to the
y and play some hoops or something like that. So
(00:22):
take us back to the beginning.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Wow, that's a good question. We started around the year
two thousand.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
That far back.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Yes, that's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yes, we started. We had some teams. I came into
the group maybe about twenty years ago, okay, and.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
It was for and they originally we used.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
To play with the Nutman Games in Connecticut and we
have since split in the senior Games have become much bigger,
but originally they were with the nut Make Games. And
for me personally, how I came into the group was
I was watching my daughter because she was playing basketball
(01:12):
in the Nutmake Games, and I met someone that I
knew and invited me to come join come join them,
And I had never played basketball before, so I was
learning from nothing. And so it's it's a great group
of women they come from various levels of experience.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
We had some that.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Like me, who have never played. We have several that
have played in high school, played in college. We've had
some that have played semi pro professionally with some of
the now the earlier women's basketball leagues and are playing
with us now. And then we all came together. They
had we had a site that we were playing on,
(02:00):
playing in Windsor at that time. Then we moved over
to AI Prince Tech, the school in Hartford, and they
have been very supportive of our group for years and
we are still playing there on Wednesday nights. We also
play on Friday mornings in Window at the Windlamanni Community Center.
(02:21):
The Community Center, the Parks and Rec's department have been
very supportive of our group over the last several several years,
I would say at least ten to fifteen years. We
also now have another group that we play in Ledgard
on Monday nights through their Parks and rec Department during
the school year, and we also have a group that
(02:42):
plays out in Newtown on Sunday mornings.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
At eight o'clock. So it's growing.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
It's growing as especially as the younger players through Title
nine are coming out of age, you know, fifty, having
a lot of more people, a lot more interests in
coming in, and it's three on three half court, so
which is good.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
Totally.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
I've been learning so much in the last like seventy
two hours about this group, the Connecticut Senior women's basketball group.
And it's my mouth was open when you said you
had no basketball experience, because obviously your group of ladies
are completely welcoming and everybody's nice to each other and
we all just want people to participate. But you walked
(03:33):
into a lion's den of females that are really good
basketball players. Brenda explain this to me, Like I was
reading some bios on some of you gals, and like
it's pretty legit that you guys go back to high
school and even a lot of college players are part
of this group.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Yeah. Absolutely, And like Linda said, we have all levels,
which is a wonderful thing. So if you haven't picked
up a basketball where your group, if you've been playing
since high school and you drop the ball and you
raised your kids and you decided after a while, you
had your fourteen kids, and now you want to get
back into it where your group, we're also your group
(04:09):
if you were playing in college either D one, D
two or D three, and then you decided all of
a sudden, what do I do? You know, my college
life is over? Where do I go? Is there a
league for me? And that's that's what I hear quite
a bit. You know, we didn't know you existed. We
didn't know there was a league out there. We didn't
know there was a we call ourselves where a group,
not even a league, and so excuse me. And so
(04:33):
what happens then is you pick the ball back up
and you leave off where you know, you pick up
where you left off. So it's one of those things
where you don't forget how to play. You remember, you're
just going to learn the three on three rules, which is,
you know, new for most people coming in who have
played five on five before. So there's a situation where
you know, and I'm not sure what the rules are,
but you fit in because you know basketball, you know
(04:55):
how to play, you know how to pass, you know
how to shoot, and every comes back to you. So
it's just, you know, it's just good. We do have
some players who have played professionally, and that group the
classics too, because we're all classics. In a sense, Classics
(05:16):
two group has players who have been past college coaches. Right,
We've got one past college coach. You have someone who's
played professionally over in Europe, and then you have players
who were Division two players that stop playing and now
are playing basketball with our group. And that group's in there.
(05:36):
There's sixty sixty five. They're sixty five now, yes, yes?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
So did I see right that we have two players
that are over the age of eighty years old in
this group?
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Yes, several.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
We actually have a team of ten that are going
to Nationals, Yes, that are over eighty. Our oldest player
is eighty eight and the youngest son that team is
eighty I believe, yes.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we've got two front roll tickets
for you guys to watch them play.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
As if you haven't seen them play, you haven't seen
the hook shot back reinvent it, it's there. And if
you haven't seen the forearm extended, that's there too.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Are you stepping on people's feet for rebounds? Is that?
Speaker 3 (06:20):
I know these tricks? You've got to see it. You
have to see it. If you haven't, you have to
see it.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
We're talking to Brenda and Linda Cannet get senior women's
basketball is the only prerequisite. You got to be fifty,
not even fifty, not even okay, because Brenda doesn't even
look fifty. You guys look great. You've been in it
for twenty years. I mean, what'd you start when you
were twenty thirty?
Speaker 4 (06:40):
I wish what's fifty when I started?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
That's crazy, that's crazy, all right, So let me ask
you this. So I retired from the major leagues, and
I was actually on the West Coast and I was
playing softball, and wherever I played, people would kind of
be like, oh, yeah, this guy's a ringer, and listen,
I was well past my prime. I was in my fifties,
and you know, people were kind of offended by, like
the former pros, the former D one players, even some
(07:06):
of the ones on your team were kind of like,
why are you doing this? That's my question for like
even the pros, why are they doing this? You know,
especially if people are going to be like thinking, you're
like a twenty five year old, but you're actually in
your fifties.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
I'm actually sixty one, so we're at age.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Yes, it's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, from my perspective, I think it's great and we
all enjoy other because also when players come in that
are much more experienced and have played and have played
at a higher level.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
They help us out, you know, they teach so it
raises up your game, so it raises up our game.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
And it's great and it's We're very fortunate that we
have people that help us with coaching, like Brenda's one
of our coaches, and we have another woman that also
helps coach for to teach us some of the finer skills.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
Sounds like it's a lot of fun, it's really relaxed.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
But this is.
Speaker 5 (08:10):
The basketball capital of the world. You guys known that,
and I know that your group has gone to Connecticut
Sun and supported the Sun in WNBA. You're obviously a
lot of women's basketball fans. If you're in this state
and you're not a women's basketball fan, you play basketball,
I don't know what's wrong with you. But we win
a lot of national championships around here, and you guys
(08:33):
are trying to carry the torch as well all the
way to des Moine, Iowa for the National Senior Games.
Tell me about the Senior Games. Tell me about our
chances of winning and how big is the trophy.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
When you actually win this, they give out medals. Actually
it's really yeah, they give out medals and it's I
had an opportunity to go to Nationals in Pittsburgh two
years ago. I did get injured, but that's okay, and
it doesn't happen often though I might say that, you
know what I mean, everyone's in pretty good shape and
stays in good shape. And the stretching that goes on before.
(09:07):
You know the importance of stretching, and also that mental
capacity to have the wherewithal the think that you know,
I can do this, I'm going to do it, I'm
going to be successful. So carrying that positive mind set
with you when you step on the court, it's a
big thing. The National Senior Games usually bring in about
eleven thousand athletes. So my experience being in Pittsburgh a
(09:30):
couple of years ago with the National Senior Games and
playing basketball was just that, you know, this is something
that you don't see unless you're an Olympian and you're
going to the Olympics. They did a phenomenal job, from
the lighting of the torch to the entrance, you know,
sort of of the teams and the sharing of Pens
and it's it's just such an exciting experience, and I
(09:51):
know Linda has had an opportunity to experience it multiple times.
Two years ago was my first time, you know, with
the National Senior Games. But if you think about over
twenty four different I think sports, and it might be
a little bit more than that. Don't quote me on it,
but just to get together with other seniors throughout the
(10:11):
you know, the world in a sense, and to come
and to compete is just such an awesome experience, it
really is.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
How many other teams are there? And do you have
a rival group that like, don't tell me it's South Carolina.
Oh gosh, don Staley there. It sounds like there is
all right, go ahead and throw them under the bus.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
No, no, it's not South Carolina.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Actually though, it's Tennessee tennis.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
There's a team from at least in our age bracket
that we've been very competitive with and they're from Middle Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It just sounds like because for me at sixty one,
you'll never stop being competitive, you know, in life, no
matter what you do, and sports is a way to
kind of get it out there. I mean, how much
of this you know for your souls for your minds.
Has this been like great for you guys to get together?
Like you said, the fellowship's one thing you get good.
(11:11):
But then you play, Yeah, and you're out there, you're competing.
You want to win, you know, I mean tell people
it never stops no matter what age you are.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Yeah, very true. I think true. It's been true for me.
I came to Connecticut Senior Women's group. It's been thirteen
years for me. Actually, I've been a part of this group.
It doesn't seem like it. So she just said, wow,
it doesn't seem like it. But I was the young
kid coming in because I came in, you know, in
my fifties so to speak. But they welcomed me in.
(11:41):
And I love the fact that I could run circles
around them. But now now that I've gotten older, I
have people that can run circles around me. So it's
just this progression. But you know, it's good to feel
as if you belong to a group where you're like minded.
You share that, and you also share this desire to
not only compete, but to compete at you know, also
(12:03):
you know, within each other, but also to go to
a game and compete and to play another team. That
competition stays with you. I played basketball in middle school,
high school, and it's hard for me to be on
the court. I grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, and it's
hard for me to be on the court and not
want to win. I mean, that's just that's just me
(12:23):
and it's my little bit of my personality. But it's
something that, like you said, it stays with you. But
it's also you know, when you when you hear that
final buzzer and you look at the you know, the scoreboard,
you want to know that you're on the winning side,
you know what I mean. And all of that hard work,
all of that practice, all the times that you spent
investing you know, time, energy, and money into this has
(12:45):
made a big difference, you know. So yeah, absolutely, that
competitive jee stays with you.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
What's the website? You guys are so welcoming. You want
more players to come through. Like, how can someone that's
listening to this get involved and start going around to
these I guess pickup games?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Is that what we call them?
Speaker 5 (13:03):
Or are we like an official league. I don't know
if I can just jump in and like in the
middle of the season or something.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Absolutely, anybody can join at any time. Has one of
our business cards. But it's Connecticut Senior Women's There's an
S on the end of that basketball dot com, so
it's CTSR women's basketball. Now, if you just do Connecticut
women's basketball, you know you're gonna get the Huskies. You
know that that's going to go right directly to the Huskies.
(13:30):
But anybody, if you don't want to play, we're always
looking for volunteers. We're looking for folks to come in
to coach. It doesn't matter what level you've coached at.
If you've coached bitty basketball, come on down, you know,
join us, be a part. If you've got an hour
of commitment, we'll take it. If you've got five weeks
of commitment, we'll take it. We're looking for coaches, we're
(13:52):
looking for volunteers, we're looking for trainers. We'll take a sponsor.
Anybody listening that wants to sponsor any of our teams
or our group in particular, please, we'd love to have
your logo on our T shirt. We would love to
have your logo on our fans and you know, anything
else that our bags, anything else that we might have
(14:16):
where you can feel as if you're contributing in some way.
So it's so super important for us. And if you
feel kind of what's a good word for apprehensive, or
if you're feeling ambivalent about it, come and watch. Come
to any of those locations, sit and watch. We've had
that happen to and we've had people stumble into the
gym and say, hey, can we play? Absolutely absolutely, and
(14:38):
it's not going to cost you much at all.
Speaker 5 (14:41):
Last summer, we had this big, like iHeart Sports meeting
for all the sports programmers, and the one thing that
they mentioned, the highlight of the whole seminar was women's sports.
And if you're not thinking or involved with women's sports
with your radio stations, your television stations, you're going to
miss out on this huge waves that's already here. It's
(15:02):
not coming, it's already here. I'm just wondering how you
guys feel. Like you mentioned Title nine and how monumental
that was for women's sports across this country. But with
what we're seeing, like we're arguing Caitlin Clark's stuff, Pagebacker stuff.
We do this on a daily basis obviously where we're at,
but everyone is getting involved now with the WNBA, these
(15:23):
leagues are popping up. We talked about the Softball League.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
At the league AMLB sponsoring the Pro Softball League.
Speaker 5 (15:28):
I mean, wait, what just goes through your minds when
you see these kind of things popping up here in
twenty twenty five that really did not exist in nineteen
seventy five.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
I just think it's an amazing opportunity for all of us,
even at our age, to be able to even to
participate in it should we want to. For the younger generation,
like I have daughters that are now in their late forties,
that now they have this opportunity to continue to play more,
(16:05):
whereas years and years ago when I didn't have that
opportunity and wasn't available or I wasn't aware of it,
And now it's it's.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Very prevalent, which is great. It's really great.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
And think about it, our eighties and I'm gonna call
them the eighties team. They're the Connecticut Classics right when
you think about it, our Connecticut High Fives. Excuse me,
they're the Connecticut High Fives, our eighties team when you
think about it, the.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Oldest eighty eight.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
So nineteen seventy two, when we talk about the transformative
women's sports and not just basketball. She was like thirty five,
she had she had started her family, I believe, so
she's like thirty five with you mentioned Title nine. So
it just draws me back to the fact that, and
I'm doing my math correctly, oops that she's thirty five
(16:54):
when this transformation took place, you know, throughout the country.
So it just wasn't the ability to play basketball. It
was you know, having an opportunity for scholarships, you know,
having an opportunity to recruit and recruitment is big. I'm
a former AAU basketball coach. I know what it's like
(17:14):
to recruit and go on recruiting trips and try to
get people to come and join your team. And not
having the ability to do that back in the seventies
and having it be so rushed and or hard to do,
it's just I don't know, it's just it just sounds
like it's just not feasible, you know, to happen. So
having Title nine and being able not just to look
at it, from recruiting, scholarships, financial aid packages, locker rooms,
(17:38):
having that access and the importance of that is just
you know, it's it's yeah, it's definitely transformed women's sports.
In general. You know, I love softball. That's that's you know,
a game that I played as a kid too as well.
And I love softball, you know. And and to see
where it is now it's on television. We can say
now I have you can get it, you know, you know.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
On it being on television, it's huge, it's marketable. People
are spending millions, and like we watching what was that?
Oklahoma is hosting the College World Series packed Yes, and
the Sooner twelve twelve thousand a game. It's beyond the
opportunity now. Now it is like a viable product that
(18:20):
men want to watch it and participate in.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
And then you have to get the T shirt. Now
everyone watches women's sports, right, that's a new logo T
shirt that everyone's wearing. You look in the stands now
you see that, and you didn't see that two years
ago or five years ago. So just the growth exponentially
has just been, you know, amazing, it's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Well God bless you guys. Thank you so much for
coming in today.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
And good luck.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Thank you, Dan, stay healthy much. Absolutely we will, and
thank you guys so much for having us appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Thank you, thank you very much,
Well, these are two of the coolest ladies I think
we've ever talked to and joining us now in the
studio from the Connecticut Senior Women's Basketball League Brenda and Linda.
And this is for either one of you, ladies. Let's
go back to the beginning. How did this all start?
Was this like, Hey, let's just go down to the
y and play some hoops or something like that. So
(00:22):
take us back to the beginning.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Wow, that's a good question. We started around the year
two thousand.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
That far back.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Yes, that's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yes, we started. We had some teams. I came into
the group maybe about twenty years ago, okay, and.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
It was for and they originally we used.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
To play with the Nutman Games in Connecticut and we
have since split in the senior Games have become much bigger,
but originally they were with the nut Make Games. And
for me personally, how I came into the group was
I was watching my daughter because she was playing basketball
(01:12):
in the Nutmake Games, and I met someone that I
knew and invited me to come join come join them,
And I had never played basketball before, so I was
learning from nothing. And so it's it's a great group
of women they come from various levels of experience.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
We had some that.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Like me, who have never played. We have several that
have played in high school, played in college. We've had
some that have played semi pro professionally with some of
the now the earlier women's basketball leagues and are playing
with us now. And then we all came together. They
had we had a site that we were playing on,
(02:00):
playing in Windsor at that time. Then we moved over
to AI Prince Tech, the school in Hartford, and they
have been very supportive of our group for years and
we are still playing there on Wednesday nights. We also
play on Friday mornings in Window at the Windlamanni Community Center.
(02:21):
The Community Center, the Parks and Rec's department have been
very supportive of our group over the last several several years,
I would say at least ten to fifteen years. We
also now have another group that we play in Ledgard
on Monday nights through their Parks and rec Department during
the school year, and we also have a group that
(02:42):
plays out in Newtown on Sunday mornings.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
At eight o'clock. So it's growing.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
It's growing as especially as the younger players through Title
nine are coming out of age, you know, fifty, having
a lot of more people, a lot more interests in
coming in, and it's three on three half court, so
which is good.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
Totally.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
I've been learning so much in the last like seventy
two hours about this group, the Connecticut Senior women's basketball group.
And it's my mouth was open when you said you
had no basketball experience, because obviously your group of ladies
are completely welcoming and everybody's nice to each other and
we all just want people to participate. But you walked
(03:33):
into a lion's den of females that are really good
basketball players. Brenda explain this to me, Like I was
reading some bios on some of you gals, and like
it's pretty legit that you guys go back to high
school and even a lot of college players are part
of this group.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Yeah. Absolutely, And like Linda said, we have all levels,
which is a wonderful thing. So if you haven't picked
up a basketball where your group, if you've been playing
since high school and you drop the ball and you
raised your kids and you decided after a while, you
had your fourteen kids, and now you want to get
back into it where your group, we're also your group
(04:09):
if you were playing in college either D one, D
two or D three, and then you decided all of
a sudden, what do I do? You know, my college
life is over? Where do I go? Is there a
league for me? And that's that's what I hear quite
a bit. You know, we didn't know you existed. We
didn't know there was a league out there. We didn't
know there was a we call ourselves where a group,
not even a league, and so excuse me. And so
(04:33):
what happens then is you pick the ball back up
and you leave off where you know, you pick up
where you left off. So it's one of those things
where you don't forget how to play. You remember, you're
just going to learn the three on three rules, which is,
you know, new for most people coming in who have
played five on five before. So there's a situation where
you know, and I'm not sure what the rules are,
but you fit in because you know basketball, you know
(04:55):
how to play, you know how to pass, you know
how to shoot, and every comes back to you. So
it's just, you know, it's just good. We do have
some players who have played professionally, and that group the
classics too, because we're all classics. In a sense, Classics
(05:16):
two group has players who have been past college coaches. Right,
We've got one past college coach. You have someone who's
played professionally over in Europe, and then you have players
who were Division two players that stop playing and now
are playing basketball with our group. And that group's in there.
(05:36):
There's sixty sixty five. They're sixty five now, yes, yes?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
So did I see right that we have two players
that are over the age of eighty years old in
this group?
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Yes, several.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
We actually have a team of ten that are going
to Nationals, Yes, that are over eighty. Our oldest player
is eighty eight and the youngest son that team is
eighty I believe, yes.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we've got two front roll tickets
for you guys to watch them play.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
As if you haven't seen them play, you haven't seen
the hook shot back reinvent it, it's there. And if
you haven't seen the forearm extended, that's there too.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Are you stepping on people's feet for rebounds? Is that?
Speaker 3 (06:20):
I know these tricks? You've got to see it. You
have to see it. If you haven't, you have to
see it.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
We're talking to Brenda and Linda Cannet get senior women's
basketball is the only prerequisite. You got to be fifty,
not even fifty, not even okay, because Brenda doesn't even
look fifty. You guys look great. You've been in it
for twenty years. I mean, what'd you start when you
were twenty thirty?
Speaker 4 (06:40):
I wish what's fifty when I started?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
That's crazy, that's crazy, all right, So let me ask
you this. So I retired from the major leagues, and
I was actually on the West Coast and I was
playing softball, and wherever I played, people would kind of
be like, oh, yeah, this guy's a ringer, and listen,
I was well past my prime. I was in my fifties,
and you know, people were kind of offended by, like
the former pros, the former D one players, even some
(07:06):
of the ones on your team were kind of like,
why are you doing this? That's my question for like
even the pros, why are they doing this? You know,
especially if people are going to be like thinking, you're
like a twenty five year old, but you're actually in
your fifties.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
I'm actually sixty one, so we're at age.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Yes, it's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, from my perspective, I think it's great and we
all enjoy other because also when players come in that
are much more experienced and have played and have played
at a higher level.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
They help us out, you know, they teach so it
raises up your game, so it raises up our game.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
And it's great and it's We're very fortunate that we
have people that help us with coaching, like Brenda's one
of our coaches, and we have another woman that also
helps coach for to teach us some of the finer skills.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
Sounds like it's a lot of fun, it's really relaxed.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
But this is.
Speaker 5 (08:10):
The basketball capital of the world. You guys known that,
and I know that your group has gone to Connecticut
Sun and supported the Sun in WNBA. You're obviously a
lot of women's basketball fans. If you're in this state
and you're not a women's basketball fan, you play basketball,
I don't know what's wrong with you. But we win
a lot of national championships around here, and you guys
(08:33):
are trying to carry the torch as well all the
way to des Moine, Iowa for the National Senior Games.
Tell me about the Senior Games. Tell me about our
chances of winning and how big is the trophy.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
When you actually win this, they give out medals. Actually
it's really yeah, they give out medals and it's I
had an opportunity to go to Nationals in Pittsburgh two
years ago. I did get injured, but that's okay, and
it doesn't happen often though I might say that, you
know what I mean, everyone's in pretty good shape and
stays in good shape. And the stretching that goes on before.
(09:07):
You know the importance of stretching, and also that mental
capacity to have the wherewithal the think that you know,
I can do this, I'm going to do it, I'm
going to be successful. So carrying that positive mind set
with you when you step on the court, it's a
big thing. The National Senior Games usually bring in about
eleven thousand athletes. So my experience being in Pittsburgh a
(09:30):
couple of years ago with the National Senior Games and
playing basketball was just that, you know, this is something
that you don't see unless you're an Olympian and you're
going to the Olympics. They did a phenomenal job, from
the lighting of the torch to the entrance, you know,
sort of of the teams and the sharing of Pens
and it's it's just such an exciting experience, and I
(09:51):
know Linda has had an opportunity to experience it multiple times.
Two years ago was my first time, you know, with
the National Senior Games. But if you think about over
twenty four different I think sports, and it might be
a little bit more than that. Don't quote me on it,
but just to get together with other seniors throughout the
(10:11):
you know, the world in a sense, and to come
and to compete is just such an awesome experience, it
really is.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
How many other teams are there? And do you have
a rival group that like, don't tell me it's South Carolina.
Oh gosh, don Staley there. It sounds like there is
all right, go ahead and throw them under the bus.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
No, no, it's not South Carolina.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Actually though, it's Tennessee tennis.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
There's a team from at least in our age bracket
that we've been very competitive with and they're from Middle Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It just sounds like because for me at sixty one,
you'll never stop being competitive, you know, in life, no
matter what you do, and sports is a way to
kind of get it out there. I mean, how much
of this you know for your souls for your minds.
Has this been like great for you guys to get together?
Like you said, the fellowship's one thing you get good.
(11:11):
But then you play, Yeah, and you're out there, you're competing.
You want to win, you know, I mean tell people
it never stops no matter what age you are.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Yeah, very true. I think true. It's been true for me.
I came to Connecticut Senior Women's group. It's been thirteen
years for me. Actually, I've been a part of this group.
It doesn't seem like it. So she just said, wow,
it doesn't seem like it. But I was the young
kid coming in because I came in, you know, in
my fifties so to speak. But they welcomed me in.
(11:41):
And I love the fact that I could run circles
around them. But now now that I've gotten older, I
have people that can run circles around me. So it's
just this progression. But you know, it's good to feel
as if you belong to a group where you're like minded.
You share that, and you also share this desire to
not only compete, but to compete at you know, also
(12:03):
you know, within each other, but also to go to
a game and compete and to play another team. That
competition stays with you. I played basketball in middle school,
high school, and it's hard for me to be on
the court. I grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, and it's
hard for me to be on the court and not
want to win. I mean, that's just that's just me
(12:23):
and it's my little bit of my personality. But it's
something that, like you said, it stays with you. But
it's also you know, when you when you hear that
final buzzer and you look at the you know, the scoreboard,
you want to know that you're on the winning side,
you know what I mean. And all of that hard work,
all of that practice, all the times that you spent
investing you know, time, energy, and money into this has
(12:45):
made a big difference, you know. So yeah, absolutely, that
competitive jee stays with you.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
What's the website? You guys are so welcoming. You want
more players to come through. Like, how can someone that's
listening to this get involved and start going around to
these I guess pickup games?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Is that what we call them?
Speaker 5 (13:03):
Or are we like an official league. I don't know
if I can just jump in and like in the
middle of the season or something.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Absolutely, anybody can join at any time. Has one of
our business cards. But it's Connecticut Senior Women's There's an
S on the end of that basketball dot com, so
it's CTSR women's basketball. Now, if you just do Connecticut
women's basketball, you know you're gonna get the Huskies. You
know that that's going to go right directly to the Huskies.
(13:30):
But anybody, if you don't want to play, we're always
looking for volunteers. We're looking for folks to come in
to coach. It doesn't matter what level you've coached at.
If you've coached bitty basketball, come on down, you know,
join us, be a part. If you've got an hour
of commitment, we'll take it. If you've got five weeks
of commitment, we'll take it. We're looking for coaches, we're
(13:52):
looking for volunteers, we're looking for trainers. We'll take a sponsor.
Anybody listening that wants to sponsor any of our teams
or our group in particular, please, we'd love to have
your logo on our T shirt. We would love to
have your logo on our fans and you know, anything
else that our bags, anything else that we might have
(14:16):
where you can feel as if you're contributing in some way.
So it's so super important for us. And if you
feel kind of what's a good word for apprehensive, or
if you're feeling ambivalent about it, come and watch. Come
to any of those locations, sit and watch. We've had
that happen to and we've had people stumble into the
gym and say, hey, can we play? Absolutely absolutely, and
(14:38):
it's not going to cost you much at all.
Speaker 5 (14:41):
Last summer, we had this big, like iHeart Sports meeting
for all the sports programmers, and the one thing that
they mentioned, the highlight of the whole seminar was women's sports.
And if you're not thinking or involved with women's sports
with your radio stations, your television stations, you're going to
miss out on this huge waves that's already here. It's
(15:02):
not coming, it's already here. I'm just wondering how you
guys feel. Like you mentioned Title nine and how monumental
that was for women's sports across this country. But with
what we're seeing, like we're arguing Caitlin Clark's stuff, Pagebacker stuff.
We do this on a daily basis obviously where we're at,
but everyone is getting involved now with the WNBA, these
(15:23):
leagues are popping up. We talked about the Softball League.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
At the league AMLB sponsoring the Pro Softball League.
Speaker 5 (15:28):
I mean, wait, what just goes through your minds when
you see these kind of things popping up here in
twenty twenty five that really did not exist in nineteen
seventy five.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
I just think it's an amazing opportunity for all of us,
even at our age, to be able to even to
participate in it should we want to. For the younger generation,
like I have daughters that are now in their late forties,
that now they have this opportunity to continue to play more,
(16:05):
whereas years and years ago when I didn't have that
opportunity and wasn't available or I wasn't aware of it,
And now it's it's.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Very prevalent, which is great. It's really great.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
And think about it, our eighties and I'm gonna call
them the eighties team. They're the Connecticut Classics right when
you think about it, our Connecticut High Fives. Excuse me,
they're the Connecticut High Fives, our eighties team when you
think about it, the.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Oldest eighty eight.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
So nineteen seventy two, when we talk about the transformative
women's sports and not just basketball. She was like thirty five,
she had she had started her family, I believe, so
she's like thirty five with you mentioned Title nine. So
it just draws me back to the fact that, and
I'm doing my math correctly, oops that she's thirty five
(16:54):
when this transformation took place, you know, throughout the country.
So it just wasn't the ability to play basketball. It
was you know, having an opportunity for scholarships, you know,
having an opportunity to recruit and recruitment is big. I'm
a former AAU basketball coach. I know what it's like
(17:14):
to recruit and go on recruiting trips and try to
get people to come and join your team. And not
having the ability to do that back in the seventies
and having it be so rushed and or hard to do,
it's just I don't know, it's just it just sounds
like it's just not feasible, you know, to happen. So
having Title nine and being able not just to look
at it, from recruiting, scholarships, financial aid packages, locker rooms,
(17:38):
having that access and the importance of that is just
you know, it's it's yeah, it's definitely transformed women's sports.
In general. You know, I love softball. That's that's you know,
a game that I played as a kid too as well.
And I love softball, you know. And and to see
where it is now it's on television. We can say
now I have you can get it, you know, you know.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
On it being on television, it's huge, it's marketable. People
are spending millions, and like we watching what was that?
Oklahoma is hosting the College World Series packed Yes, and
the Sooner twelve twelve thousand a game. It's beyond the
opportunity now. Now it is like a viable product that
(18:20):
men want to watch it and participate in.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
And then you have to get the T shirt. Now
everyone watches women's sports, right, that's a new logo T
shirt that everyone's wearing. You look in the stands now
you see that, and you didn't see that two years
ago or five years ago. So just the growth exponentially
has just been, you know, amazing, it's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Well God bless you guys. Thank you so much for
coming in today.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
And good luck.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Thank you, Dan, stay healthy much. Absolutely we will, and
thank you guys so much for having us appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Thank you, thank you very much,
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