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Keystone State Games: New format for field hockey tournament

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Body found in Susquehanna River

<p class="x_MsoNormal">The Keystone State Games remain an athletic competition, but they do not intend to stop there.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">&#8220;We&#8217;re really trying to boost our fitness-style events that are not really open to just specific sports, but to focus on part of our mission, which is to use the Keystone Games as a platform for physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle,&#8221; Keystone Games executive director Jim Costello said.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">With that goal in mind, the Keystone Games are partnering with the United Way to present a 5K Run and Walk for the second straight year. That is just one event in the games that will take place around Luzerne County on consecutive long weekends to end July and begin August.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">&#8220;That&#8217;s not only for competitive athletes, it&#8217;s for everyone,&#8221; Costello said of the event the morning of July 27, starting and ending at Public Square in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">A cross fit competition has been added.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">&#8220;We also added in our powerlifting competition to make strength more sport-oriented,&#8221; Costello said. &#8216;We really tried to focus on those type of events.&#8221;</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">The additions and adjustments do not end there.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">The Keystone Games got their start in 1982 as a statewide competition modeled after the Olympic Games.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">Traditional team and individual sports remain a part of the games, but there are other times when the athletic competition can resemble those at a family or company picnic and, now, a workout session at the gym.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">&#8220;We&#8217;re really trying to merge competition for high-end sport as well as recreational activities for all Pennsylvanians,&#8221; Costello said.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">Nowhere is that more evident than in the other new &#8220;sport&#8221; for this season.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">A Wiffle&#174; ball tournament will be held for the first time. Wiffle&#174; ball is the plastic bat and ball version of baseball that many have played for fun in smaller spaces or with smaller numbers of players available.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">Costello expects the Wiffle&#174; ball debut to more popular with middle-aged players, reminiscing and reliving their games of the past in a round-robin and elimination bracket tournament at Kirby Park the morning of July 27. The adult division for players 13-and-over will get the tournament off the ground, but the 12-and-under youth division does not appear to have enough interest to make its debut this year.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">Wiffle&#174; ball is the latest sports variation to make its way into the Keystone Games.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">Pickleball, a popular event on the years when the Keystone Senior Games is contested, will be part of the activities. The July 25-26 tournaments (singles and doubles in various divisions) in the game, which is a hybrid of tennis, badminton and table tennis, is expected to bring a primarily older group of players to the Newberry Estates in Dallas.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">&#8220;Pickleball has just blossomed,&#8221; Costello said. &#8220;This year is not a Senior Games competition year for us, but we&#8217;re expecting almost 75 players in pickleball this summer, which is the best we&#8217;ve ever had for a non-Senior games year.&#8221;</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">Costello said the willingness to come up with new offerings is one of the keys to the Keystone Games longevity in a changing sports landscape that has taken away many of what were the original focal points of the annual summer gathering of Pennsylvania athletes.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">&#8220;For anything to last 38 years, especially in amateur sports, there are huge kudos to our volunteers, our board of directors, the communities that bring us in,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s amazing that it has been going on this long. Sport has changed so much from the early 80s to today.&#8221;</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">Costello knows the event&#8217;s history well.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">His late father, Owen, ran the games from their inception until his death in 2015.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">Jim, who had gradually become more involved through the years, accepted the Board of Director&#8217;s request for him to take over.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">&#8220;The first time I was at the games that I can absolutely remember was 1983 at Penn State,&#8221; said Jim, who was a young boy at the time. &#8220;I don&#8217;t remember much about the competition or the games, but I remember walking into Rec Hall and seeing all the kids. It was awesome.&#8221;</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">In the years ahead, before he was finished with elementary schools, Costello began performing small jobs. He later became part of the summer help that prepared for the games.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">A physical education teacher, Costello was coaching and teaching in York County when his father asked him to become more involved in 2006. With other staff members leaving the organization, Costello took over as competition director, setting him up to ultimately keep the management of the games in the family.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">The Keystone Games got off the ground in the 1980s. They hit their peak in the 1990s with 10,000 total athletes playing in 35-40 sports each year.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">At the time, the format of top scholastic athletes trying out for the honor of representing their region in pursuit of state championships drove the games. It was the place for those athletes to be in the summer with intense basketball tournaments leading the way.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">An extreme example of the talent base is Kobe Bryant and Rip Hamilton playing as teammates for the Metro Scholastic Boys team.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">In the time since, club, AAU and other travel teams and their tournament circuits have emerged across many sports. In turn, the Keystone Games began to shrink in the 2000s.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">Participation has stabilized over the past decade with Costello saying 3,000-3,500 athletes can be counted on for the summer games during that time. In another development, the Keystone Games&#8217; expansion into running other events occasionally at other times during the year has accommodated thousands more.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">&#8220;The big change is the recreational-type of things,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We really tried to focus, not less on the sports, because they are still the backbone of what we want to do, but the reality is we want to encourage Pennsylvanians and our neighbors in surrounding states who want to participate, to get out and have a good time.&#8221;</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">Whether for serious competition, fitness or recreation, a variety of locations around Luzerne County will be the places to pursue those interests over the next two weeks.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Mike Flynn of Bases Loaded team connects on a pitch in Sunday's wiffle ball game against Kekambas at Diamond City Park in Wilkes-Barre. (Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_wiffleball03.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mike Flynn of Bases Loaded team connects on a pitch in Sunday's wiffle ball game against Kekambas at Diamond City Park in Wilkes-Barre. (Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_wiffleball02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wiffle Ball has been added as one of the sports for this year&#8217;s version of the Keystone State Games. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_wiffleball02.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wiffle Ball has been added as one of the sports for this year&#8217;s version of the Keystone State Games. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_TTL072918KSGTableTennis_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The table tennis competition will be held ath the Nanticoke Table Tennis Club. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_TTL072918KSGTableTennis_4.jpg</photo2><caption2>The table tennis competition will be held ath the Nanticoke Table Tennis Club. </caption2><photoCredit2>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_Pickleball-2-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Keystone State Games will host its popular pickleball tournament this year at Newberry Estates Country Club. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_Pickleball-2-.jpg</photo3><caption3>The Keystone State Games will host its popular pickleball tournament this year at Newberry Estates Country Club. </caption3><photoCredit3>File photo </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p class="x_MsoNormal">By Tom Robinson</p><p class="x_MsoNormal">For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach the Times Leader newsroom at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Keystone State Games puts an emphasis on fitness