Sitting on benches in a sports hall in Greenland, 33-year-old Jennsinnguaq Lundblad and his kindergarten children couldn’t take their eyes off the handball court.
“It’s unusual to see so many older people playing sports – it’s fun to watch,” he said of the game in Ilulissat, a city north of the Arctic Circle.
The Greenland Senior Games attract teams of pensioners from the vast Danish Autonomous Region each year.
The experienced players are just as hot in the stands as they are on the field, where 239 players are fighting for victory in handball, ice hockey and football.
Laila Moller, 68, said she doesn’t want to spend her retirement at home alone.
“As a pensioner, you’re often at home, so it’s good for me to move around and be with others,” said the competitor from Ilulissat.
“It’s cool, we’re a lot of people” here.
However, it is not easy to bring everyone together. Greenland is the world’s largest island, mostly covered in ice, and transportation costs are high when much of the terrain can only be traversed by air or sea.
But the competition’s 10 traveling teams have received stipends to ensure they can all take part.
Magrethe Jakobsen, 74, had traveled all the way from Paamiut, a town some 800 kilometers away on the southern tip of the island.
At home, “we play twice a week and go to the gym once a week. That means we’re together on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,” said the lady in a bright purple T-shirt.
“I do it to exercise, to meet people, to socialize.”
Each game lasts about 20 minutes, with participants taking turns acting as referees.
Most of the players participating in the games created in 2011 are past retirement age. Her movements are a bit slow or even clumsy at times, but no one seems to mind.
Grete Street, 66, from Ilulissat, said the games are not about winning.
“Everyone is allowed to move. Maybe some are more flexible than others,” but that’s not important, she said.
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