Competitive athletics don’t have to end after high school or college.

When she turned 50, Jane Emkes, a 1979 graduate of Seymour High School, rediscovered her passion for competitive basketball.

This past month, Emkes competed in her second National Senior Games.

The 13-day event, hosted by 18 venues in Minneapolis, St. Paul and four suburbs, is an Olympic-style biennial competition for men and women age 50 and older. It hosted 12,000 athletes for 19 sports and two demonstration events.

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Emkes, who currently lives in Medford, Oregon, played in the 50-54 age group on the San Diego Wildfire basketball team and the Mike Fence Battle Ax softball squad.

Since she lives in small-town Oregon, Emkes said she has to travel to play organized basketball. She said she makes several trips a year to San Diego to attend tournaments and camps.

“I wasn’t able to go with my normal San Diego team, as they moved up into the 55s age group, and I’m too young,” Emkes said. “So that team helped me find another San Diego team to play with for nationals.

“We qualified at the Nevada State Senior Games. We also played in the California state games but finished fourth, and only the top three teams get to go. You qualify the year before nationals. For softball, we qualified at Huntsman World Senior Games. We took third place out of 18 teams, and it was our first time ever playing together.”

Competitors at nationals were split into age groups, divided by five-year increments, that qualified for the event a year in advance at an officially sanctioned state competition.

“Since turning 50, I’ve discovered that there are many opportunities for senior sports,” Emkes said.  “So I’ve made an effort to get myself into shape, and basketball and softball are my favorite sports. Staying active is extremely important to me. I have a health and wellness support team in Oregon that keeps my body and mind ready for competition. Some of them think I’m a little crazy to be playing as much as I do, but it helps to keep me young.”

In the Division II basketball bracket, the Wildfire claimed bronze.

The Battle Ax placed fifth of 22 teams in Minnesota.

“I’m so proud of both of my teams at nationals,” Emkes said. “We definitely performed well and probably exceeded our own expectations. My softball team is a scrawny, scrappy team mostly from Oregon, and we were one run away from being able to play for bronze in Division I.

During her time in Seymour, Emkes was a four-year basketball player for the Owls, averaging 23.9 points and 5.5 assists in her senior season. She still holds numerous records for the program.

Following SHS, Emkes continued her playing career and education at Ball State University until graduating in 1983. She later was chosen for Ball State’s all-decade second team.

Emkes was named to the Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2004 Silver Anniversary team and inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.

At nationals, Emkes said she felt inspired by some of the older competitors.

Hitting the hardwood again was a rewarding experience for the Hoosier State native.

“Although I’ve continued to play softball my whole life, I didn’t start playing basketball again until turning 50,” Emkes said. “Being from Indiana, I thought I should start playing again. And I never had the chance to play with the 3-point line or the smaller women’s ball, so now I can pop 3s all day long. Some go in, many don’t.

“I recently ran into my high school coach, Donna Sullivan, when I was in Seymour in May, and she’s always been a big inspiration to me. There’s also a women’s team in San Diego who are all over 80 years old who took silver at nationals, and they totally inspire me to keep playing. Several are turning 90, which means I should be able to play, oh, about another 40 years.”

The National Senior Games host some of the most tenured athletes in the nation.

“It’s competitive. Just because players are over 50 doesn’t mean they don’t go all out — elbows do get thrown,” Emkes said. “I still have scratches and bruises. There were many great players, including fellow Hoosier Kim Land, who graduated the same year as me.”

At the games, Emkes had numerous supporters turn out to cheer her on.

“(Since) I had fans there, it made the atmosphere more enjoyable and very special for me,” Emkes said. “My husband, mom (Orpha Emkes), dad (Ben Emkes), sister (Jana Gray) and her husband (Scott Gray) and Minnesota relatives attended off and on. No added pressure or anything.”

Two years ago, Emkes played in the National Senior Games in Cleveland, Ohio. In that tourney, she solely played basketball with an injury.

“Some players do feel the stress of the spotlight, but because it was my second time at nationals and I knew what to expect, I felt more relaxed this time,” Emkes said. “I also knew a lot of the basketball players on other teams, so we’re friends off the court and not friends on the court. The Nationals Senior Games were expecting more than 10,000 athletes competing in all the sports, so Minneapolis was a fun place to be, and the weather was great.”