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^F abulous fall une arrives! Fashions hottest season is upon us at By Consignment. Everyday w e are receiving all the sharpest looks for fall 2002. Come & see us for current, classic & comfy styles...you'll never shop retail again! B v Consignment .. n Upscale Kesale Ladies Wear · Open 7 davs a week f a t 1 IS T ra falg a r RtL ^ N r f g . 3 3 8 - 5 4 7 4 F o ru s^ WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 11. 2002 · P a g e C3 " Get the Facts. Find out about the choices it provides." Glen Oaks Memorial Gardens 3164 9th Une, Oakville M Official Media Sponsor 257-1100 Editor: Wilma Blokhuis Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 250) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: blokhuis@haltonsearch.com By Lindsey Craig hile it's impressive enough to play ten nis, squash and soc cer as well as work out, inline skating and compete on a dragon boat racing team, it's even more astonishing to make that claim at age 62. But such is the case for Oakville's Verna Dalgleish, a senior heading to Melbourne, Australia this fall for the 2002 World Masters Games, where she'll compete in squash. It will be the 62-year-old's fifth time participating in the Games, having com peted in squash and tennis at the 1989 Denmark event, as well as squash alone at the 1994 tournament in Brisbane, Australia, and in the 1998 Games in Portland, Oregon. She was also involved in the very first World Masters Games in Toronto in 1984, but strictly as a volunteer, since she was recovering from an injury. For this year's Games, she leaves for Melbourne on October 2, staying the night in Honolulu, and arriving in Australia on the 5th - just in time for opening cerem onies on O ctober 6. When the tournament wraps up on the 13th, she'll prepare for a two-week tour of New Zealand before heading home. At the last World Masters Games, Dalgleish said there were athletes from all comers of the world, including New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Russia, the Czech Republic, Holland, England, Ireland. Zimbabwe, Canada and the United States, to name a few. The 1994 Games saw 26,000 partici pants, including 1,500 squash players alone. The international sporting event is unique in that there are no athletic qual ifications and athletes do not compete as representatives of their home coun tries. Instead, individual entry into the contest is earned purely through one's interest in participating, provided he or w S P E C IA L T O T H E B E A V E R ... " v " ! W: % Jamie Smith* Oakville Beaver Dalgleish flexes her muscles during a pick-up game of soccer. The 62-year-old also plays squash and tennis, a member of a dragon boat team. She's off to Australia to play squash in the World Masters Games. Super woman she meets the age bracket of 35 years or "It's fun to win, but whether you older and can afford to attend. Despite won or lost, at the end of the game it's the loose requirements, however, the 5- like, `Okay, where are we going for a ft. 4-in., 140-pound Dalgleish noted that beer?" ' she said. "It's more about par former professionals often ticipating and having "Softball and baseball fun." turn up on the court or field - giving amateurs That said, Dalgleish is were my sports in like herself the match of still an accomplished ath high school. And I their lives. lete at the Games. At the played a bit of hockey Denmark event in 1989, For example, in 1989 at the Denmark Games, too, but back then, the former St. Catharines Dalgleish found herself woman won a bronze girls would just have facing off on the tennis medal in the w om en's to play in their figure tennis doubles for the 45court against Australia's skates, and grab a 17-time World Champion plus age category. Heather McKay. Now competing in the couple of sticks and "She was in my cate 60-plus contingent, gory, and I wouldn't say I gloves. It's not encour Dalgleish is still a young aged like it is today." ster compared to some of played her, I'd say I spent time on the court with her, the other Games partici · Verna Dalgleish because I couldn't even pants, such as a 90-yearcome close," Dalgleish said with a old Australian woman who competed in the 1994 Games as a swimmer. laugh. "She just kept the ball in play." It's this type of sportsmanship that "She won a medal for her division seems to be the unwritten rule of the and she was the only one in it," said tournament, as the 12-year Oakville res Dalgleish. But even the 90-year-old woman ident said more importance is placed on participation than taking victory. was surpassed in age. Dubbed `the Centurion' at 101 years old, Mary Maina forced organizers to create a new division for women over 100 when she competed in the 50-metre freestyle event, also at the 1994 Brisbane Games. And will Dalgleish ever reach such a feat? The Cornwall native said that for now, she hopes she'll still be competing at the next World Masters Games, set for 2006. "I'm a believer in doing it (what you're interested in) as much as you can. D on't let society tell you, `You can't do it because you're older,"' she said. It's certainly a motto Dalgleish has lived by. The Oakville resident didn't pick up soccer until the age of 60, a sport she now plays three times a week in Oakville and Milton. She also started dragon boat racing two years ago, join ing a women's crew which participated in the Chinese festival at Centre Island this past June. As for tennis and squash. Dalgleish didn't swing a tennis racket until her early 20s, and failed to discov er squash until the age of 36. And before then ? "Softball and baseball were my sports in high school," she said. "And r played a bit of hockev too, bu« back then, girls would just have to play in their figure skates, and grab a couple of sticks and gloves. It's not encouraged like it is today," she continued, adding that this past winter she laced up again for the first time in 40 years. "I scored a goal, so I can't be too bad," she said. Other involvements for the senior include membership to the Burlington Racquet and Athletic Club where she plays squash four or five times a week, as she prepares for the upcoming World Masters, under the guidance of trainer Doug Hamilton. She also works out five times a week at the gym in her condo, alternating between weight training and cardio activity. "I think the weights are important for your joints. I don't lift a huge amount but enough to keep my muscles in shape and toned," she said. "It keeps things fit." The never-married woman also stays busy as Vice-President of Membership at the Bronte Tennis Club and through her volunteer work for the Canadian Cancer Society, including taking on the position of registration co-chair for this year's Relay for Life. Having lost mul tiple members of her immediate family to the disease, it's a cause close to her heart. But just what is her secret to being so active at 62? For those seeking the key ingredient to a long, healthy life, unfor tunately nothing unusual. Dalgleish said she's never been on a strict diet (although she doesn't often consume red meat and she avoids excessive junk food) and didn't start working out con sistently until her retirement from the financial division of GM two years ago. "I worked out sporadically in my 40s and 50s, but not like I do now," she said, adding that she does drink a lot of water and fruit juice, and admitting that she "enjoys a beer once and awhile." 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