Meet the first couple of the Florida Senior Games in Lee County

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Added: Thu. Nov 19, 2009 1:18pm

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The Florida Senior Games has quite a few husbands and wives working together to stay active and healthy, but the first couple of the Florida Senior Games in Lee County has got to be Danny and Neva Weisskopf who have registered for a combined 14 events in the 2009 Florida Senior Games State Championships.

 

Read on and let me know if their efforts inspires you and your spouse to try something new.

 

 

Watch out for flying discs when the Weisskopf's are near

 

Danny Weisskopf will be hurling a discus in the Florida Senior Games State Championships this year.  It came as startling news to him.

 

His wife, Neva, registered him for the event while completing their paperwork hoping to motivate him to do it more often.

“Neva throws the javelin and discus when we go out and practice and I usually just throw them back to her,” Danny said when describing their workouts.  On December 12 at South Fort Myers High School, Danny will step into the circle and give the 1.0 kilogram discus a hurl.

 

Danny and Neva Weisskopf, of Lehigh Acres, are perfect ambassadors for the Florida Senior Games.  Combined they are registered for 14 events in the 60-64 age group at this year’s State Championship.  Neva will be in 10 track and field events while Danny will be in four.  Over the last three years, they have combined to win over 25 medals in the State Championships.

 

While the medals have piled up, that’s not really their motivation for participating in several different Senior Games events in Florida and Iowa.

 

“It isn’t so much about winning medals for us,” said Danny.  “It’s about participating.  We’ve met folks from all over the state and around the country.  It’s just really fun and not so much about winning.”

 

Besides hearing the call of the track and field events in Senior Games competitions and a variety of 5K Road Races in the Fort Myers area, Neva has been applauded for her work as a teacher at Alva Middle School, where she teaches 7^th and 8^th graders.  In 2005 she was recognized as a “No Child Left Behind in 2005 American Star of Teaching,” by the U.S. Department of Education.

 

“Ms. Weisskopf represents those professionals who see teaching as a calling, not a job,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, when she received the award.

 

She is active in and out of the classroom, arranging field trips, organizing Internet exchanges with schools across the country as well as serving as the Science Fair Coordinator.  She is the Language Arts Department Head, Spelling Bee Sponsor, and a member of the School Advisory Team.

 

Neva also uses her athletic experience to motivate her students and helps out with the Alva Middle School Track & Field team.  “I use it when I talk to the students about setting goals for themselves,” she said.  “In the past, I haven given some of my medals to students as motivation for accomplishing certain things.”

 

The Weisskopf’s split their year between Southwest Florida and Amana, Iowa.  Neva leaves after the school year is over and the pair compete in the Iowa Senior Games during the summer.  While in Florida they participate in the Charlotte, Lee and Collier County Local Senior Games and the State Championships.  They even brought their game to a nationwide stage in 2007 and 2009 at the National Senior Games.

 

Both have a background in Track & Field dating back to their high school days in Iowa and while they’ve known each other since they were in seventh grade, they were married only 6 ½ years ago.  “We met up again at our 35^th High School Reunion,” they both said with a laugh.

 

Danny and Neva Weisskopf use the Florida Senior Games as a way to stay healthy, meet new friends and enjoy their life together.  This year, Danny will have the opportunity to make some new friends among the discus throwers, thanks to Neva.

 

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