You’re never too old to play the game.

Lou Ann Thomas and Margaret McNiel are living proof.

Thomas, a 52-year-old from Oskaloosa, and McNiel, a 50-year-old Lawrence resident, haven’t let the aches and pains of middle age (and beyond) keep them from the joys of sport.

Thomas and McNiel were among 13 women – members of the 50-and-over Team Heartland – who represented Kansas in the women’s softball competition at the Summer National Senior Games (also known as the Senior Olympics) June 3-18 in Pittsburgh.

The team’s members, ranging in age from 50 to 65, joined about 12,000 other senior athletes from the country to compete in 17 events, such as: bowling, badminton, archery, golfing, basketball, track and field, shuffleboard and volleyball.

Also from Kansas were a 55-and-over men’s volleyball team, a 65-and-over women’s basketball team and a few athletes competing as individuals.

How’d Team Heartland do?

“We won one (game), we lost four. But three of our losses were to teams that finished first, second and fourth in the championship tournament. So if you’re going to get beat, get beat by the best,” says Thomas, a freelance writer.

Members of the 50-and-over Team Heartland gear up for a softball game from the bench. Seated are Lou Ann Thomas, 52, of Oskaloosa, and 50-year-old Margaret McNiel, of Lawrence, who were among 13 women who represented Kansas at the Summer National Senior Games in Pittsburgh.

Team Heartland did, however, triumph over one of its opponents, the Pittsburgh Steel Magnolias.

For Thomas and McNiel, participating in the Senior Olympics for the first time – the games are held every other year at sites around the country – marked a highlight on their journey of return to competitive sports after several years of physical inactivity.

Anyone can duplicate their success at rediscovering athletics later in life, the women say, regardless of gender, age or condition.

“Start where you’re at,” Thomas says. “If you haven’t done anything, if you’ve just been sitting in a Barcalounger eating chocolate-covered cherries for a few years, you might want to just go for a walk. Just start moving.”

Senior league sparked interest

A love of softball was what eventually lured Thomas and McNiel back to playing sports.

Last summer, each of them joined softball teams in a Topeka city league, as well as an independent league in north Topeka for women 45 and over.

McNiel, a computer programmer for the state of Kansas, had grown up in Atchison playing softball in summer leagues. She later ran track for Kansas University, graduating in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.

“I was playing softball until I was about 45, and then I quit because so many of the players on my teams were the age of my children. A lot of it’s social, and it’s not all that much fun to play with people who are a lot younger,” she says.

Lou Ann Thomas, 52, of Oskaloosa, bats during a softball game at the Summer National Senior Games in Pittsburgh. Thomas and Lawrence resident Margaret McNiel, 50, were among 13 women who represented Kansas as Team Heartland at the games.

“But when they started this (45-and-over) league in Topeka, it was really fun because it was a lot of people like me who like to play ball, but maybe don’t have the speed any more.”

That sparked her interest in joining Team Heartland and participating in the Kansas Senior Olympics, held each year in Topeka.

McNiel has since competed at the state level in softball, bowling, badminton, volleyball and golf.

Thomas, like McNiel, had played softball when she was younger, before dropping away from it. She played the game almost continuously from childhood onward.

Thomas played softball and volleyball for two years at KU. She graduated in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and returned to earn a bachelor’s in education in 1977.

But when she was 35, a back injury ended her playing days, and Thomas had to overcome a lot to get back into the game.

Still competing

While recovering from the injury, Thomas began to gain weight, peaking at 380 pounds. Then, in the summer of 1998, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer.

Thomas had a complete hysterectomy in January of 1999. She has been cancer free since then.

“You always kind of bargain with whomever you think may be in charge of your life. I said, ‘If I live, I want to live healthy. I want my life back. And I’ll do anything to do that,'” she says.

“And then I lived (through the cancer), and I had to fulfill my end of the bargain.”

It took Thomas two years, through diet and exercise, to lose almost 190 pounds.

“That’s pretty amazing. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I’d be playing softball again, or anything active,” she says.

“When I joined the softball league (in Topeka) last summer, that’s when I started playing softball again. I met great people, I met Margaret, and she’s like my childhood playmate now.”

Both women say they intend to keep playing senior softball as long as they can.

“It’s really fun to play again with women in your own age bracket,” Thomas says. “We may not be as fast, we can’t hit it as far, but we can still compete.”