Organizers put call out for athletes, volunteers, and sponsors
It’s the biggest sporting event of the year for older athletes, and it’s coming to Morden-Winkler-Stanley this spring.
The 2026 Manitoba 55+ Games will bring hundreds of athletes to the region, shares sports co-chair Dale Ready.
“It could be between 1,000 or 1,2000 people,” he said. “We have 14 events that we’re hosting between the communities.”
Curling—two-person stick and four-person team—will be first up, taking place at the Winkler and Morden rinks March 17-19. The other events run June 9-11 with competition in five-pin bowling (at the rink in Carman), bocce ball, disc golf, 9- and 18-hole golf, horseshoes, pickleball, predicted walk/run, slo-pitch, pool, swimming, contract and duplicate bridge, and cribbage.
It’s going to be a great opportunity to highlight all three communities, Ready noted, and the region as a whole.
And if past Games are any indication, it’s also going to be a blast for everyone taking part.
“I’ve competed twice, in pickleball, and while there is competition, there is also just a huge amount of fun and social pieces to the Games,” he said. “It’s about being active, whether it’s physically, mentally … at 55+, we want our seniors to remain engaged and vital.”
The Manitoba 55+ Games have been in operation since 1983, growing from 365 participants that first year to over 1,600.
Morden-Winkler’s last time hosting the competition was back in 2002 (in Morden) and 1995 (in Winkler).
As always, an event of this size requires a lot of community support, and local organizers are working hard to get the word out.
“We’re really in the beginning stages of promoting and getting people thinking about it,” Ready said.
“We have a number of people that have stepped forward already as volunteers for different areas … but we will be looking for more people that are interested in helping out, whether it’s one day, whether it’s an afternoon, whether it’s all three days,” he said. “Volunteers are a huge part of the Games.”
The organizing committee has also begun reaching out to area businesses to discuss sponsorship opportunities.
“Hopefully people will get behind the Games and see this as a real value for the communities that are involved,” Ready said.
Registration for curling and volunteering is available now online at activeagingmb.ca. Registration for the other events in June should open shortly.
Head to the website above or contact Active Aging in Manitoba at 1-204-632-3947 or info@activeagingmb.ca for more details.
