Basketball players Paula Franetti, left, and Pat Cribbens practice their game of choice on a recent Saturday at Cubs Hall in Butler.

They're not getting older, they're getting better — at shooting a basketball, hitting a softball, serving a volleyball ... whatever their game of choice with the Western Pennsylvania Senior Olympics organization.

This collection of women, all 50 or older, trains and competes together in preparation for the annual Pennsylvania State Games and the biennial National Senior Games.

The Butler Cubs have been the organization's sponsor and host for its basketball and volleyball practices, since WPSO president and Chicora resident Carol McCollough, 65, got the program rolling 10 years ago.

"Through a project Slippery Rock University students were doing on physical conditioning, I learned there was a group of women around my age playing basketball,"McCollough said. "It sounded like a fun way to get in shape, so I decided to check it out.

"There were a few women, one basketball team, and they were all giving it up at the end of the year. If I wanted to play, I had to find some people."

So she went to work on it.

"I bugged all my friends,"McCollough said, laughing. "That's how it got started. Friends bugging friends."

McCollough's group started with eight women and just one basketball team.Today, the organization has 61 women, three volleyball teams, four basketball teams and a softball team. The WPSOhas had women compete and medal in bowling, horseshoes, track and field — 24 sports in all at national events.And they want more."Most women don't know we're here, that this organization exists,"McCollough said. "Once they come, they're hooked."The WPSOcompeted in the National Senior Games in Baton Rouge, La., in 2001; Virginia Beach in 2003; Pittsburgh in 2005; and Louisville, Ky, last year. The 2009 Games are scheduled for Aug. 1 through 15 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.And these women will be there. Their basketball teams have already qualified, in fact. Qualifiers for other sports take place this summer.To help fund its trips, the WPSOheld its annual golf tournament May 31 at Lake Arthur Country Club. It also sells lottery calendars and accepts donations from local businesses.

The professional and personal backgrounds vary among these athletes.Many of the women are grandmothers. Also part of the group are business owners, teachers, a school superintendent, a Lutheran sister, a physician, a professor of criminal law and a judge.Their goal, however, is universal:Stay active together, stay healthy together."It's all about opportunity,"said Tina Bruns, 50, of Pittsburgh. "It's motivation to stay healthy. As I get older, I don't move around very much. This gets me moving."That's a good thing, according to Paula Franetti, 52, of Pittsburgh. She owns and runs a fitness and health business and joined the WPSO two years ago."The cardiovascular workout and muscle tone that playing these games provides are ideal for women at this age,"Franetti said. "People tend to get more sedentary as they get older, when they should be getting more active."This organization has something for everyone, at all ages and skill levels. I'm inspired by these women. It's fun just being around them."

Franetti played basketball at Penn State during her collegiate years. She pointed out that most women in their mid-50s and older never had a chance to play high school or college sports."My high school years were just the beginning of Title IX," she said of the law requiring gender equality in athletics. "We're beginning to get women who did compete years ago and we're showing them an avenue to get back into it."Marilyn Hilliard, 76, of Butler is the eldest WPSOmember and the only one remaining from the group of women competing when McCollough joined 10 years ago.A member of the United States Army from 1950 to 56, Hilliard has won numerous medals in the National Veteran Games and claimed a silver medal in horseshoes last year at Louisville's National Senior Games.Hilliard pitched horseshoes for 4Z\x consecutive hours two days in a row to get that silver."I'm proud of that," she said. "When I compete, I feel like a kid. I'm taking advantage of sports now because I didn't have the opportunity when I was young."Title IXis the best thing in the world. We older women know what it's like not to be equal. High school girls today don't realize how lucky they are to have organized sports. We couldn't even get into the gym."It's the appreciation of competition that has Hilliard doing bike races "even though my legs kill me" and keeps her on the basketball court "even if I have to get shots in my knee."She has continued to compete through cataracts, arthritis — and now she needs surgery on her thumb."That would put me out for six months and I can't do that now,"Hilliard said of the surgery. "So I'm wearing a brace and putting up with it."I compete against myself. I've broken my own speed records on my bicycle. I'm an athlete. I'm living my childhood now and I don't care who knows it. It beats sitting home in a rocking chair."Mary Jo Garmey, 63, of Wexford echoes those sentiments."I started playing softball when I was 47," she said. "I had children to raise. I watched them have their fun. Now it's my turn."I've always loved sports. I watched my brother play for years and didn't have the opportunity to play when I was young. So what if I'm old?I can play now and I'm having a good time doing it."Hilliard special-ordered high quality horseshoes and built her own horseshoe pit in her backyard."I hated to do that. It's not a very attractive thing, but, hey, I want to win," she said.Experience countsAlena Sikorova, 55, of Cranberry Township is originally from the Czech Republic. She played in a developmental volleyball league in her home country during her teen years."This has been my game my whole life," she said.When she came to the states years ago, Sikorova figured her playing days were over — until she discovered the WPSO."Our team has evolved a lot,"she said. "When I started here, this was like barn volleyball. As time went on, we got more players, learned the game ... Now we have a really good team."Other teams look at us as a serious opponent now. We're not as young and not as fast as some teams we play. But our defense has improved, we play together as a unit."Experience counts for something," Sikorova added, laughing.She said her volleyball team "doesn't bicker or blame anyone if something goes wrong. We're all good friends who appreciate being out here."Like many of the athletes, Sikorova deals with arthritis. She stretches before practice and tolerates the pain."With arthritis, it's worse if you don't move," she said.

Overcoming physical problems is commonplace among these athletes.Bulging discs, arthritis, hip replacements, oxygen tanks, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, knee surgery, broken ankles — no obstacle gets in the way of play.Claudia Lindsay, 59, of Sarver plays volleyball despite suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, a disease forcing her to receive oxygen from a tank all day.Have tank, will travel, as far as she's concerned."I just go without it when it's my turn to go in," Lindsay said of her volleyball games. "I can play a game without it for 10 minutes or so, then I go back to the sidelines and hook the tank up again."I'm not going to give this up. This is my favorite thing to do. It's great exercise and it's a lot of fun with this group of ladies."Joy Brewer, 60, of Zelienople is a breast cancer survivor and couldn't play for a year because of a blood clot in her leg.But sports have always been a part of her life."My brothers were all athletes. There were three of them and when they needed a fourth player, I was it,"Brewer said."I got my first catcher's mitt when I was 5. My brother was a pitcher and I used my catcher's mitt to warm him up before his Little League games."She played softball until she was 16 and played on a women's basketball team while attending Point Park College.But from then until joining the WPSOfive years ago, Brewer was not active in sports."There were no other women to play ball with," she said. "But now I'm going to play as long as my body will let me."Brewer underwent chemotherapy for her cancer and "I played the 2004 State Games with no hair," she said.Janet Willis, 62, of Pittsburgh received a hip replacement in November of 2006 and returned to action a few months ago. She has also been a high school basketball official and softball umpire for the past decade."I was always interested in sports and wanted to know the rules, so why not get into officiating?,"Willis said. "I got bypassed for everything (in sports) when I was in school. I mean, you could be a cheerleader, that was about it."A basketball and softball player with the WPSO, Willis began experiencing pain in her right side and a hip replacement was advised."My doctor knew I led an active lifestyle,"she said. "And I didn't want to be in pain anymore. Now that I'm OKto play again, everything's fine."This (WPSO)is a wonderful experience. I know a number of women who can't wait to turn 50 so they can get involved."

Jane Amiotte, 66, of Zelienople can't wait to get involved again.She was struck by a car Nov. 30 of last year and broke both ankles and a fibula. The accident forced her off her feet for four months.Doctors informed Amiotte of the possibility her right foot could need amputated. Such surgery was avoided, however.Amiotte has been a member of the WPSOfor nearly six years."The last few months were difficult for me," she said. "I thought everything was over with. It took me a long time just to be able to walk again."Now she's preparing to play again.While her teammates run through intra-squad scrimmages on one end of the basketball court, Amiotte stands alone at the other, shooting baskets and retrieving her own rebounds.During games, she sits on the bench and supports the other players — as they supported her while she lay in her hospital bed."The cards I received from these women, the letters of support, all the visits ... I couldn't have made it without them," Amiotte said, wiping tears from her face."They wouldn't let me give up. They gave me motivation to come back. And I made it."

Of the 61 women comprising the Western PennsylvaniaSenior Olympics organization based in Butler, 22 are fromButler County:<B>NAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RESIDENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AGE</B>Jane Amiotte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Zelienople . . . . . . . . . . . .66Yvette Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Freeport . . . . . . . . . . . .N/AKathy Blair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sarver . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Joy Brewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Zelienople . . . . . . . . . . . .60Dorothy Burke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Butler . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67Judy Butch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sarver . . . . . . . . . . . . .61Cheryl Dick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Prospect . . . . . . . . . . . .53Marilyn Hilliard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Butler . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77Sarah Johns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cabot . . . . . . . . . . . . .58Karen Kaczmarek . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50Bernie Kennedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Butler . . . . . . . . . . . . .N/APatsy Larimore . . . . . . . . . . . . .Karns City . . . . . . . . . . . .61Claudia Lindsay . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sarver . . . . . . . . . . . . .59Laura Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Butler . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53Carol McCollough . . . . . . . . . . . .Chicora . . . . . . . . . . . . .64Valerie Mueller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Butler . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53Trudy Peterman . . . . . . . . . . .Slippery Rock . . . . . . . . . .N/ABarb Pyewell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Butler . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59Melinda Rhoads . . . . . . . . . . .Slippery Rock . . . . . . . . . .53Alena Sikorova . . . . . . . . . .Cranberry Township . . . . . . . .55Patty Swartzlander . . . . . . . . . . . .Sarver . . . . . . . . . . . . .50Joanne Toy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sarver . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Judy Butch of Sarver serves up the ball during volleyballpractice on a recent Saturday at Cubs Hall in Butler. Of the 61 women who are members of the Western Pennsylvania Senior Olympics organization,22 are from Butler County.

At left, Paula Franetti, center, shoots the hoop while Pat Cribbens, left, and Mary Jo Garmey guard her at basketball practice on a Saturday at the Butler Cubs Hall.

Valerie Mueller keeps score during volleyball practice for the Western Pennsylvania Senior Olympics team.