The USA 80 basketball team will compete in the 2015 National Senior Games July 12-15. Photo: Courtesy
By Steve Breazeale
Three times a week, the San Juan Capistrano Community Center gym hosts one of the most successful basketball teams in the country. The tight-knit group of players has been together for over 15 years, won four consecutive national championships and a handful of international titles. They have won these titles at the ages of 65, 70, 75 and 80.
On July 12, the locally-based USA 80 team, made entirely of players over the age of 80, will travel to Minneapolis to compete in the 2015 National Senior Games with the hopes of capturing their fifth-straight national senior championship.
Team player-manager Bob Messersmith, 82, has been the driving force behind the group, gathering some of the best senior players from California and beyond to make what has been a dominant team.
“That’s what is kind of unique. We’ve won every time and everyone is kind of gearing for us (this year),” Messersmith said.
Five of the team’s seven members live in Orange or Los Angeles County, which makes it easier for the team to get together and practice. Messersmith said the practices at the community gym can be light, but as the National Senior Games draws closer, they begin to ramp up the intensity.
“When we get to the nationals, the ball game changes real fast. Attention goes up. We have our game face on,” Messersmith said. “Everybody wants this.”