500 players, ages 40 to 70: The Italian teams keeping basketball going past retirement

Italy's Golden Players — men and women aged 40 to 70 — are heading to the FIBA Masters Open in Corinth this July, while scientists are quietly using them to unlock the secrets of how sport shapes how we age. Basketball is not just a sport for the young. It can also be understood through the lens of longevity and healthy life expectancy, as a concrete example of active ageing in which physical performance, cardiovascular health and neuromotor abilities are preserved and interwoven over time. In Italy, the Golden Players movement has been growing year on year, bringing together more than 500 players — women and men ranging from their 40s to their 70s — from across the country, united by their passion for basketball and their determination to keep competing long after their traditional playing careers have ended. "It is a message for us athletes of a certain age: at this stage of life it becomes a push towards the future, an incentive to commit, to stay in shape and to adopt a healthy, steady lifestyle," said Virgilio Marino, president of Golden Players Italia. The movement goes well beyond amateur sport. Golden Players take part in increasingly structured national and international competitions, helping to redefine the concept of biological age in sport and demonstrating how performance can be sustained well into later life through training, body composition and consistent physical activity. Corinth to host FIBA Masters World Championships Corinth, Greece, is set to host the FIBA Masters Open World Championships from 4 to 12 July, drawing teams from across the globe. Italy will field a particularly strong presence, with 13 men's and women's national teams taking part. In just a few years, the Golden Players project has become one of the most dynamic forces in international masters basketball, earning an invitation from FIBA — the global governing body of basketball and the only authority recognised by the International Olympic Committee — as well as the backing of the Italian Basketball Federation. A longevity laboratory The Golden Players are also attracting the attention of scientists. The movement is at the heart of a longevity research project coordinated by Massimo Zollo, professor of genetics at the Federico II University of Naples, who describes the players as "a living laboratory of longevity" — a group that allows researchers to correlate physical activity, biomarkers and trajectories of biological ageing. The study combines genetic, epigenetic and metabolic approaches, including analysis of the epigenetic clock, a tool that estimates biological age based on DNA methylation patterns and compares it with chronological age. A central element of the model is the interaction between genetics and lifestyle. Evidence suggests that longevity has an inherited component of between 30% and 55%, with the remainder shaped by environment, diet and physical activity. Regular exercise, the research indicates, acts on several key biological pathways involved in ageing, among them inflammatory regulation, energy metabolism, mitochondrial function and autophagy. Biological evidence and models of active ageing The latest research points to several measurable benefits of sustained physical activity in older people: reduced chronic low-grade inflammation, better mitochondrial function, maintained insulin sensitivity and preserved cardiovascular and neuromuscular function. Studies on ageing and twin cohorts, including NASA's Twins Study on physiological adaptations, further show that lifestyle can significantly influence gene expression, even among people with identical genetic backgrounds. Masters athletes are of particular interest to scientists precisely because they combine advanced age with consistently high levels of structured physical activity, making them a rare and valuable population for longevity research. A growing community Beyond the competitive dimension, the movement also functions as a social network spread across the whole country. The squads draw players from across Italy, creating opportunities for connection and inclusion through sport. To prepare for the FIBA Masters Open 2026, the Golden Players have organised more than 70 training camps and tournaments across the country as part of their build-up to the event in Greece. Competing at the 2026 FIBA Masters World Championships will be more than a sporting challenge — it will be an international showcase for a model that brings together wellbeing, social connection and active ageing. For many Golden Players, the court remains the place where they can push themselves, maintain a healthy lifestyle and prove that a passion for basketball can last a lifetime.