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85-year-old participates in more than a dozen sports

85YO in this year's FL Senior Games
85YO participates in this year's FL Senior Games
Posted at 3:39 PM, Dec 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-01 17:13:09-05

The Tampa Bay area is home to many big sporting events and starting December 2, there will be a unique competition happening in Clearwater.

The Florida Senior Games will be held at the Long Center on Belcher Road in Clearwater. The games are for people 50 and older in a plethora of competition sports. One of those sports is pickleball, which is Leurene Hildenbrand’s specialty.

Hildenbrand, 85, says the secret to staying young is just to keep moving and staying positive.

“Doing things and having the right attitude,” said Hildenbrand. “Everything is about the attitude.”

In 1932, the year Hildenbrand was born, girls didn’t have a lot of options when it came to sports.

“We had basketball, but it was half court only. And there were no intramural sports, whatsoever,” said Hildenbrand.

Of course, all of that has changed and Hildenbrand is taking full advantage, playing more than a dozen sports to stay active.

She will be showcasing her athletic talents at the Florida Senior Games from December 2-10 in Clearwater. 

This year, Leurene was selected as a Humana Game Changer for exemplifying healthy aging and provides encouragement, motivation and inspiration for all seniors to start with healthy.