Summary:
- At 79, Tan Choon Huay played floorball for the first time as part of the inaugural Seniors National Games, joining over 1,000 seniors from 110 Active Ageing Centres.
- The Games feature five adaptive sports – including seated floorball, boccia, and disc golf – designed to be inclusive, fun, and beneficial for seniors’ health.
- The finals happen on 4 Oct at Our Tampines Hub, alongside the National Celebration of Seniors 2025, which also offers talks, performances, and interactive activities.
Last month, Tan Choon Huay touched a floorball stick for the first time in her life at the age of 79. She was nervous, and even a bit indignant, but intrigued nonetheless – after all, she’d just been roped into Singapore’s first Seniors National Games.
She took her unexpected participation in the friendly competition in stride, steeling herself for a game of seated floorball with nine other silvers. Her team of seniors from the Lions Befrienders Active Ageing Centre (AAC) at Clementi, Block 344, were up against five others, she recalls, from an NTUC Health AAC.
"But after I played a while and I could understand the game, it got very exciting."
Though her team ultimately lost – “How to win? I didn’t even know how to play!” – Choon Huay says she is raring to play seated floorball again, albeit after getting some “proper training”.
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The very first Seniors National Games
The retired cleaner was one of more than 1,000 seniors from 110 AACs participating in the first edition of the Seniors National Games, organised by SportSG to encourage the country’s silvers to keep active and social.
The games feature five adaptive sports – Seated Floorball, Disc Golf, Boccia, Ladder Toss, and Sport Stacking – designed to be accessible to people of all ages, abilities, and interests. The games were also tailored to complement rehabilitation by activating various muscle groups simultaneously.
Credit: AIC
The finals for the Seniors National Games will be held this Saturday, 4 October, from 10:30am to 1pm at Our Tampines Hub, in conjunction with the annual National Celebration of Seniors (NCOS), happening concurrently through the weekend of 4-5 October, from 9am to 8pm.
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Part of National Celebration of Seniors 2025
The annual NCOS appropriately takes on a SG60 theme this year, and is free-to-enter. It will feature intergenerational sports programmes, life transition talks, and booth exhibits aiming to keep silvers living better for longer.
Organised by the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) with support from over 10 partner agencies including the CPF Board, the Health Promotion Board, and the National Library Board, expect to find plenty of ways to stay active as well as opportunities for life-long learning and volunteering.
So after checking out the sporting finale, feel free to stay on for the interactive e-sports booths, a live cooking demo by Scottish MasterChef champ Gary Maclean, and stage performances by various senior groups.
Meanwhile, Choon Huay, who keeps active with regular walks and morning exercise classes at her AAC, is already looking forward to the next round. Her competitive spirit is apparent.
The National Celebration of Seniors 2025
When: 4 & 5 October, 9am – 8pm
Where: Our Tampines Hub, 1 Tampines Walk, Singapore 528523
Price: Free
Website: https://www.sg60.gov.sg/national-celebration-of-seniors/ (programme roundup here)
