Thousands of athletes are expected in Nanaimo this fall for the 55+ BC Games in September. Athlete registration wraps up June 15. (CFJC Today)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

come to compete

Pickleball, slo-pitch & soccer headline local registration for Nanaimo 55+ BC Games

Jun 10, 2025 | 12:06 PM

NANAIMO — Athlete registration is well underway for the 55+ BC Games to be hosted on central Vancouver Island this fall.

Just under a week remains until a June 15 deadline to register as an athlete for Zone 2 (Vancouver Island North) at the event, hosted in Nanaimo starting on Sept. 9.

Chair of Zone 2 Laurie Miller said last time Nanaimo hosted the games in 2007, they had nearly 800 from the central and north Island, as well as the B.C. central coast, and are hopeful to eclipse those numbers this year.

“I anticipate that we should easily have, again, a range of 700 participants or more from Zone 2 this year. I just don’t know with people and travelling, costs and things, if we’ll attract 3,500 [total athletes province-wide]…we did last time but there’s just so many ifs today with costs of living.”

While some sports are already fully committed to, others remain open ahead of the June 15 deadline.

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Nanaimo will offer a roster of 25 sports, including staples like track and field, swimming, badminton, cycling, golf and lawn bowling.

New for Nanaimo this time is pickleball, which was barely a sport the last time the city hosted.

“In 2007, nobody was playing or talking about pickleball, and now this time, pickleball is going to be one of our biggest groups of people that go to the games.”

Large registration is also expected for soccer and disc golf, which is a unique-to-Nanaimo offering.

“We know we’re going to have tonnes of slo-pitch players. Last year we sent two women’s teams and this year we’re going to have at least double the number of teams, four or five. Slo-pitch is going to be very popular.”

Cribbage and badminton registration is also extremely strong.

Those interested in competing should email the Zone 2 committee at zone2info@55plusbcgames.org.

A full list of sports is available here.

Organizers are also putting a call out for volunteers to help run the games, with jobs ranging from transportation and administration to photography and first-aid.

More information is available on the 55+ BC Games website.

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