For pinball aficionados, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as the “THOK!” sound indicating you’ve earned a free game. Coming up in May, pinball wizards aged 50 and over can use their skill to win a medal. Pinball is just one of the new competitions debuting at the 2025 St. Louis Senior Olympics.
Other events making their first appearance this year are tai chi, rock climbing, an ice hockey shootout and Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament. Now in its 45th year, the theme of this year’s Senior Olympics is lifelong healthy living. The rationale for adding events is to generate more participation and tapping into special areas of interest. Baby Boomers in particular may have spent a fair share of their youth with hands firmly planted on the flippers of a pinball machine.
“I don’t add events every year,” said Stephanie Rhea, Senior Olympics coordinator at the Jewish Community Center. “But my goal this is year is to try to get more participation. I thought pinball could be a really fun, more social event.”
During the pinball competition, four players will compete on one machine and after the game, the top two high scorers move on to the next round until a winner is crowned.
The rationale for adding new events is to broaden the interest among St. Louisans in the 50-plus age group who haven’t participated in the Senior Olympics previously. The competition drew nearly 1,600 participants before the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first post-COVID Senior Olympics, there were 500 participants. Since then, participation is trending upwards, with 700 in 2024.
Another new component to the 2025 games will be a venue change for the opening ceremonies, which will be held at The Hub STL (part of The District of St. Louis) in Chesterfield. It will feature a number of family-friendly events.
“It’s going to be amazing,” Rhea said. “We’ll have dancers and a live band, Kent Ehrhardt from KMOV with his Blue Moon Blues Band. A car show will also be part of the opening ceremonies. I’m picturing ’57 Chevys and old Corvettes and Mustangs. People can bring newer cars, too—whatever they want to show off. The judges will come in and score them and we’ll give out awards based on the scores. The most fun will be walking around and seeing all these cool cars.”
As in previous years, a full complement of track and field events will be held on Memorial Day, May 26. This year, those events are scheduled at Ladue Horton Watkins High School. The J’s Staenberg Family Complex will again host many of the other outdoor events. Pickleball will move to a new location, the Padel + Pickle facility on N. Price Road in Olivette.
Complete rules, schedules and registration tools are now available here. The deadline to register is April 27.
