T HE F INISH L INE Arizona’s Leader in Senior Fitness Coach Morrison Retires Long-time volunteer coach Hugh Morrison is retiring from Arizona Senior Olympics track and field team after 27 years of dedication to the program. Morrison has seen ASO through the many changes that have taken place and has been a part of the growth in service to thousands of athletes. Track and field meet management is not as easy as it appears. Seventeen events must be managed for 10 age groups, and volunteers must be recruited and trained for nine field events and eight track races. Volunteers are needed to manage, measure and time. Then there are the logistical necessities such as equipment, facilities and safety. There are thousands of details to ensure that the event will meet USATF standards. Morrison has overseen all of this with a calm, quiet spirit and the expertise of a true professional. He has worked with great athletes whose expectations were
high and not-so-great athletes who barely knew their way around the track. He has worked with gentlemen and unpleasant folks, but he has never lost his grace or temper. To the volunteers he has been grateful, to the athletes he has been helpful and understanding, and to the ASO staff he has been a dear friend. Morrison spent his career as a high school coach in football and track. At one school he became known as “the hugger” because of his fondness for the young people and because he was always ready with a word of advice and guidance. The track and field athletes often heard “Say that you can or say that you can’t and you’ll be right.” He was a true encourager for the elite and the struggling athlete. After he retired from coaching high
school, Morrison continued to serve in the area of track and field and is widely known throughout Arizona. He is in demand as a certified USATF official, always rendering fair and objective decisions. Athletes who arrive at the ASO track and field meet seek out the 90-year-old Morrison, whose physical limitations have kept him from running around the field as he did in his early years. He has been an effective and valuable leader. “We’ve been dreading this day, not just because Hugh is such a great member of our team, but because he is a good friend and an example to everyone who knows him,” says Irene Stillwell, ASO executive director. “He can’t be replaced, but as we look for a new track and field commissioner, we will try to find someone with the same great qualities.”
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T-Shirt Design Contest Here is an opportunity to have the 2015 Arizona Senior Olympics athlete T-shirt designed by you. Keep in mind that these shirts will be purchased by senior athletes to wear throughout the year. The deadline is Aug. 1, so get your pens, pencils or brushes out and start designing.
in partnership with the cities of Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, Peoria, Scottsdale, Tempe and the communities of Sun City, Sun City West, Sun City Grand
Rules: 1. Design must include the words: Arizona Senior Olympics 2. No dates. 3. Can be full color or less. 4. Design for front of shirt only. 5. Can be on white or a colored shirt. 6. No obscenities or double entendres. 7. Design must be suitable for screen printing. 8. Design will be digitized for production.by screen print artist. 9. Judges’ decisions are final. 10. Designs cannot be returned.
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Winner will be notified by Aug. 10. The prize is free registration in the 2015 ASO Games and a free T-shirt of your design. Send entries to: Arizona Senior Olympics, P.O. Box 33278, Phoenix, AZ, 85067-3278. www.lovinlifeafter50.com
602-274-7742
web site: www.seniorgames.org
June 2014 : : Lovin’ Life After 50 : : page 45