At an age when many people have slowed down, Joyce and Lloyd Woods are speeding up.
Take, for example, the latest feat accomplished by this remarkable couple, who retired from their posts at Joplin High School in 1998. Lloyd, tennis coach and biology instructor, and Joyce, a physical education teacher who coached a variety of sports but is best remembered for her two decades of volleyball, captured top honors in an international sporting event.
This affable couple may have taken one small step for education in their classrooms and coaching service but they took one giant leap for aging athletes last month by winning a gold medal at the Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah.
The Woods won the 65-to-69-year-old mixed doubles tennis championship at an annual event for athletes 50 and above. And it wasn't just about competition among a few states. We're talking thousands of athletes from all 50 states and 20 countries.
The Games, which feature 26 different athletic events over a two-week period each October, were started 22 years ago by Daisy and John Morgan Jr. And, just like Joyce and Lloyd, the Morgans realized that the “golden years” are better when good health and physical fitness become a way of life and not an occasional hobby.
This marked the first year for the Woods to participate in the Games, even though they had thought about it often since taking to the road seven years ago in their RV.
It wasn't long after arriving in St. George and seeing the opening of the Games that they knew they had made the right decision.
“In the opening ceremony, you would have thought you were at the real Olympics,” Joyce said. “We marched in with kids screaming. Skydivers were coming in and fireworks were going off. It was really amazing. Then, the Olympic torch was lit. It was so exciting.”
The competition included everything from badminton to bowling. In addition to the traditional sports such as softball, basketball, racquetball, tennis and golf, there were such activities as horseshoes, mountain biking, race walking, bridge, chess, square dancing and a couple of other ventures into something called Pickleball and the Cowboy Shoot.
Needless to say, the Woods had their hands full just in fighting off their mixed doubles combatants.
“There was some pretty good competition,” Lloyd understated the scenario. “There were different levels with some being very strong and some very weak.”
All age groups were playing from 50 on up, Joyce said.
“There were even two gentlemen playing who were over 92 ... and singles, no less,” she said.
In their championship match, the Woods won the first set 6-1 but had to rally from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to win 6-4.
It wasn't just the tennis that impressed the Woods either.
“They had the largest softball tournament in the world with over 700 participants,” Joyce said.
It didn't take Joyce and Lloyd long to realize they were among some serious athletes, who had come from as far away as Japan and Russia to Alaska and Australia.
Huntsman Games officials pride themselves in promoting worldwide peace and health through friendly competition. In addition to the athletic endeavors, health is promoted by providing life-saving screenings for breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer.
Having spent time in Arizona after the Games, the Woods are back home now in Mountain View, Ark., ready for their next adventure, whether it be additional time on the tennis court, hiking in the mountains or taking part in perhaps their most endearing pastime, folk music.
They are part of a five-member group that has seen a lot of exposure over the years, including plenty of stints at Silver Dollar City.
Lloyd plays the mountain dulcimer and harmonica and Joyce, in addition to the mountain dulcimer, divides her talents among the auto harp, accordion and concertina.
Rich Brown is a sports writer for The Joplin Globe. Comments or column ideas may be sent to him at rbrown@joplinglobe.com or by calling him at 627-7269.
