University of Alaska Southeast
S200 KD1: Orientation to the Social Sciences
Prof. Dr. William Urquhart
Michell Matta de Azevedo
INTERVIEW PAPER: SPORTS AT THIRD AGE
During our semester on Orientation to Social Science we had the opportunity of
reading different journals and researches from different courses involving in Social Science, but
with the main matter: Sport, Recreation, and Leisure. We talked about bullying and sports,
femininity and sports, LGBTQI+ and sports, and even corruption and sports, but I missed a very
important and urgent matter regarding another social group: Our elderly community practicing and
learning sports.
According to Chen, our world population is getting older, which means that the born
rate is getting lower and the living rates are being extended. World Health Organization – or WHO,
consider an aging society a country with more than 7% of the population of 65+. As stated by Urban
Institute, the United States of America is an aging society with 16.3% of the population over 65
years old, that’s more than double of the guidelines defined by WHO, and the forecast is to have
20.4% of our population over 65 years old by 2040, that is just one reason why elderly care should
be one of the main social programs to focus on from now on.
This interview paper will attempt to expose the life as a 65+ student learning a new
sport and the difficulties, prejudices, and the efforts from our government and our society to
stimulate the practice of a sport on the third age. My interviewee is a white, Latina, widow, straight
woman, that leaves in a very wealthy community of Orlando, Florida. I reached her on a group on
Facebook of a well-known gym in the same area. To protect my interviewee’s identity, we will use
a pseudonym for Olivia. After a brief explanation of what my interview consisted of and by Dr.
Urquhart’s approval, the interview took place via Skype on April 08th, 2020 at 7 p.m. Due to the
actual COVID-19 outbreak and my candidate considering a group of risks, we couldn’t proceed
with the interview in presence.
University of Alaska Southeast
S200 KD1: Orientation to the Social Sciences
Prof. Dr. William Urquhart
Michell Matta de Azevedo
Olivia is very active since she was 15 years old, she practices
gymnastics, weightlifting, karate as a martial art, and CrossFit. Now in days, she is weightlifting,
cross fitting, and as most incredible, she started to learn how to swim less than 6 years ago.
Michell: Why did you pursue to practice swimming as a sport in specific? What led you to choose
this specific sport?
Olivia: During all my life I played sports to move my body. CrossFit was a challenge for me.
Swimming was something that I was always interested in, but I never learn how to swim. I’ve always
liked water, but I couldn’t be with my friends at the ocean or at the pool. At 60 years old I decided
