Every woman on this basketball team is over 80

We’ve found our future goal, and it’s playing basketball on this 80-and-over women’s team. 

The senior women of the San Diego Splash are as badass as you can get. Senior citizens they may be, but “past it”, they are not. The teammates appeared in a video for ESPN W, and their camaraderie and sisterhood is admirable throughout - if a little emotional at times!

The ladies play as part of the San Diego Senior Women’s Basketball Association for those 50 years or older. Games last 30 minutes and are played in two halves, three-on-three. Their team, however, only has members aged 80 and over - and two squad members are over 90.

“If you can stand up and move your legs, you’re welcome,” explains 87-year-old Marge Carl in the clip. 

91-year-old Grace Larsen admits she never played basketball as a girl because it wasn’t offered to her: “I was 78 years old when I got my first basketball shoes,” she said. 

“Growing up we didn’t have sports like the girls do today, we didn’t have the opportunity to play.

“I thought, oh gee that would be so much fun if I could actually play basketball.”

The Splash say their games at the local YWCA inspire “big smiles,” and have helped them prove that age is just a number.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t ready to smash some dreams while they’re busy smashing boundaries, though. 91-year-old Meg Skinner insists that they’re willing to do all it takes to beat their opponents. 

“We play to win,” she said. “Absolutely.”