If Carol McCullough wanted to play, she had to sway.

Because she did, the Western Pennsylvania Senior Olympics program is stronger than ever.

Six years ago, McCullough, now 63, of Chicora learned about a group of older women playing basketball at the Butler Cubs Hall and wanted to join.

"I don't like to exercise, but I love to play. There has to be a winner and a loser," McCullough said. "When I showed up, the other women were in their 70s and I was in my 50s.

"They were all ready to get out of the program. I knew that if I wanted to play, I had to do something."

SoMcCullough recruited softball players, bowlers, any physically active women she knew — and eight of them formed the Cubs' Senior Olympics program.

They began with a single basketball team. Today, they are an incorporated organization of 66 women, with five basketball teams, four volleyball teams and a softball team.

Age divisions range from 50-over to 65-over. The oldest member of the group is 75-year-old Marilyn Hilliard of Butler, who also competes in the National Veterans Games.

"It's a shame there's not more groups out there like ours,"McCullough said. "We have women coming here (Cubs Hall) from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Bethlehem. They come a long way just to participate and stay active."

The Western Pennsylvania basketball teams have already competed in three National Senior Games, winning the bronze medal in 2001 in Baton Rouge, La., the silver medal in 2003 in Hampton Roads, Va., and the bronze medal in 2005 in Pittsburgh.

Dorothy Burke, 66, of Butler was one of the original eight in the organization.

"When I was a kid, I played sports," Burke said. "I played on the South Side playground all the time. I guess I'm just trying to relive my youth.

"The girls come from all around. Some of them play volleyball three nights a week. I've always been able to keep up, more or less.Most of the ladies are better than me, but I take it as a challenge to compete with them.

"I go year by year now. Depending on how I feel, how my joints feel, I'll keep playing,"Burke added.

Some of the women in the Western Pennsylvania Senior Olympics organization have had hip replacements, knee replacements, deal with arthritis or disc degeneration.

"If you're physically competing at this age, you're going to have knee problems," saidsoftball coach Patty Swartzlander, 49. "These women aren't worried about it. They're all very appreciative of athletics and competition.

"Most of these women had never competed at all in their lives, or at least for a very long time. We break them in slowly, put them through basic drills and see where their strengths are.

"There's throwing and catching drills for softball, dribbling and shooting for basketball, passing and setting for volleyball ... We put players' strengths together and form a team,"Swartzlander added.

Swartzlander said Senior Olympics athletics benefit women mentally and emotionally, as well as physically.

"These games complete them,"she said. "A lot of their husbands are ill. These women are stuck at home, dealing with everything. This gets them out, meeting new people, traveling a little bit. It's very therapeutic.

"For example, Carol has arthritis. If she doesn't keep moving, she freezes up. She loves these games."

She's not alone.

"You enjoy coming, meeting and playing with people,"Burke said. "It's better than sitting at home watching TV."

McCullough is president of the Western Pennsylvania Senior Olympics. Val Mueller of Butler is secretary and Patsy Larimore of Karns City is treasurer.

The organization's major fundraiser is a golf tournament May 12 at Lake Arthur Country Club. Its age 60-over softball team will compete at nationals this June in Louisville, Ky.

"We've come a long way in a short time,"McCullough said. "No gold medal at nationals yet, but we're still trying."

<B>WHAT:</B> Western Pennsylvania Senior Olympics<B>WHO:</B> Women age 50-over<B>WHERE:</B> Butler Cubs Hall<B>WHEN:</B> Volleyball practice, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturdays at Butler Cubs Hall, 4 p.m. Mondays in Shaler Township; Basketball practice, 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays at Butler Cubs Hall, 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays at Butler Cubs Hall; Softball during the spring<B>TO JOIN:</B> Call basketball coach Don McCullough or his wife, Carol, at 724-445-9997; volleyball coach Kathy Blair at 724-295-3306, or softball coach Patty Swartzlander at 724-353-2775.