{"id":24169,"date":"2025-08-07T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/franklin-county\/?p=24169"},"modified":"2025-08-04T15:32:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T15:32:00","slug":"the-tennessee-stealers-and-dinos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/franklin-county\/the-tennessee-stealers-and-dinos\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tennessee Stealers and Dinos: Proving basketball is for all ages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cAGE IS just a number,\u201d the old saying goes \u2014 and the ladies of the Tennessee Stealers and Tennessee Dinos prove it weekly at basketball practice and annually in Senior Olympics competitions across Tennessee and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The teams first came together in 2007, when a Shelbyville school teacher, Emily Campbell, put an ad out in the paper through the Shelbyville Recreation Center and its director, Sylvia Pinson. The ad was for basketball players 50 years old and older, and Joan Collins was one of nearly a dozen players who answered. Collins said the ages of the team members were everywhere, from 50- 65, but since the youngest player\u2019s age determines your bracket, they had to play in the 50-54 age group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe played in the [Tennessee Senior Olympics] that year,\u201d Collins said. \u201cWe realized right then that the talent was there, and we were all out of shape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To ensure a more level playing field, they split into three teams. Almost 20 years later, the Stealers and the Dinos still get together to play ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a member of the Dinos, Collins competes with other players aged 65 and older. Her team has played against people all over the United States, and two years ago, they won a gold medal in Pittsburgh. While they aren\u2019t traveling this year, the Dinos have competed nationally in six previous years. Collins said the team loves the game, and the players care about each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just the love of the game \u2014 you just want to keep playing as long as you can,\u201d Collins said. \u201cIt\u2019s a fellowship. You don\u2019t want to give it up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/franklin-county\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/08\/2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-24172\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/franklin-county\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/08\/2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/franklin-county\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/08\/2-980x653.jpg 980w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/franklin-county\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/08\/2-480x320.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photos submitted by Ann Solomon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Stealers currently compete in the bracket for 55 to 59-year-olds. Ann Solomon has been playing with the team for seven years and joined for the love of the sport. Then she went to the Tennessee Senior Olympics and saw the other benefits basketball could offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOne of the first years that I played, there were ladies there playing basketball in [the] 80 to 84-year- old age group,\u201d Solomon said. \u201cThey were still able to move on the basketball court. That is a sport that can keep you active.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Solomon said she also views the community she finds with her team incredibly important. The work they have done together has made them a family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s huge to me \u2014 to know that you have people that depend on you, and you depend on other people,\u201d Solomon said. \u201cOutside of playing basketball, the camaraderie and friendships that you build and make are unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Shelbyville Recreation Center has been the hub for both teams since the beginning, and Collins said anyone interested in playing is encouraged to contact them for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe wish we had more women that would come and play,\u201d Collins said. \u201cWe\u2019re getting older. We need some young blood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is exercise to be found on the courts there, as well as family \u2014 and as the ladies of the Stealers and Dinos have proved, you\u2019re never too old to try something new. <strong>GN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For more information, contact the team through the Shelbyville Rec Center at 228 Tulip Tree Rd. in Shelbyville or call (931) 684-9780.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cAGE IS just a number,\u201d the old saying goes \u2014 and the ladies of the Tennessee Stealers and Tennessee Dinos prove it weekly at basketball practice and annually in Senior Olympics competitions across Tennessee and the United States. The teams first came together in 2007, when a Shelbyville school teacher, Emily Campbell, put an ad [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":24171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Tennessee Stealers and Dinos: Proving basketball is for all ages - Franklin County, TN Good News Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/franklin-county\/the-tennessee-stealers-and-dinos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Tennessee Stealers and Dinos: Proving basketball is for all ages - Franklin County, TN Good News Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cAGE IS just a number,\u201d the old saying goes \u2014 and the ladies of the Tennessee Stealers and Tennessee Dinos prove it weekly at basketball practice and annually in Senior Olympics competitions across Tennessee and the United States. 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