The National Senior Games Association has chosen Rhode Island to host the 2008, 2010 and 2012 National Senior Games Championship Festival and Euflexxa Hockey Championships, with the inaugural event slated for Sept. 4-7.

The festival will feature billiards, ice hockey, pickle ball, team bowling and weightlifting with competitions to be held at the Rhode Island Convention Center, Brown University’s Meehan Auditorium and East Providence Lanes, as well as Thayer/Warburton Arena and Boston Billiards Club, both in Warwick.

“We are thrilled to have been selected to host this expanded national sports festival for the first time,” John Mousseau, executive director of the Rhode Island Sports Council, said in a release announcing the new event. “The state of Rhode Island is no stranger to hosting a number of firsts in the sporting world, including the United States Open and Amateur Golf Championships, the America’s Cup, the Tennis Open Championship and the first years of the highly successful X Games.”

Athletes must be 50 or older by Jan. 1, 2008, in order to compete. For more information, log on to http://www.nsga.com or contact NSGA’s Director of National Games and Athlete Relations Ray Hoyt at rhoyt@nsga.com or assistant manager Bethany Krogman at bkrogman@nsga.com.

cthorn@projo.com