It’s time for some serious Scrabble this Sunday

The Parish Hall of St. Paul’s Church, Milagiriya was transformed into a gaming centre. It wasn’t the usual gaming as one may think, but a crowd of senior citizens were deeply engaged in scrabble, bridge, carrom and other word and board games. They were in fact getting ready to face the All Island Senior Citizens Scrabble Tournament. Senior citizens - once an active lot are now more or less confined to their own spaces. But do they deserve it? Senior citizens, like everybody else should have the space to move around and engage in activities that will keep them occupied. Upon realizing the growing number of senior citizens and the need for them to interact with their friends, Sita Seneviratne, the then Chairperson of the Ceylon Social Service League initiated this Tournament.   

Hence the first Scrabble tournament was held in 1999 and the All Island Senior Citizens Association has organized it ever since. “We learnt colonial English and we are very familiar with those words,” said Indrani Athukorale, Co-chairperson of the Tournament. “This tournament brought in a lot of enthusiasm and it brought in a lot of people who were not connected with our association before. We use the Collins Scrabble Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionary. The winner of the A division receives the Deshabandu Clara Motwani Challenge Cup while B division winner gets the Rajathi Kandasamy memorial cup. In addition to the tournament we also go on a picnic so that the members could relax and have fun. We also organize lunches every month. We also sell items done by our members from time to time and they will be available on the day of the tournament as well. Scrabble tournaments are held every year and throughout the year there are three or four tournaments held for senior citizens.”  

Senior citizens, like everybody else should have the space to move around and engage in activities 

There are two categories and players can choose whether they want to play in Division A or B. The Division A uses the Collins Scrabble Dictionary while Division B uses the Oxford Dictionary. Players in Division B are given extra time and will only play five games while those in Division A will play six games. It is not only a day for scrabble but participants and members will also engage in fellowship after the tournament.   

“We like to open more branches in several other areas because senior citizens need a chance to relax and engage at the same time,” said Farida Akbarally, Co-chairperson of the Tournament. “With activities such as scrabble it gets them to think and they don’t feel time passing. Children should encourage their parents to engage in these activities. Sometimes they are not even aware that these events are being organized. Their parents are at an age where they need to be occupied rather than sitting in one place. In addition to scrabble we also have board games such as carom and card games such as Bridge and 304. Anybody interested can come along and they don’t have to be a professional in these games to be a part of the association. The Tournament is open for all participants over 50 years of age.”  

The Tournament will be held on October 28 at the Hilton Colombo, Amethyst Room. Tickets are priced at Rs. 800 and could be obtained from Farida Akbarally at No. 28, Clifford Road, Bambalapitiya or Indrani Athukorale at No. 102/1, DharmapalaMawatha, Col. 7. (Telephone: 0112 696993)