Veterans Post

Adaptive sports for disabled vets

By Freddy Groves
| 10:20 a.m. March 6, 2013

Winter Park - Maitland Observer
Neighborhood

Disabled veterans who participate in adaptive sports experience less stress, less dependency on medication — and more independence.

The Department of Veterans Affairs knows this and has loaded its calendar with the Golden Age Games (for those age 55 and older), Summer Sports Clinics, Training-Exposure-Experience (TEE) Tournament (golf), Wheelchair Games and the Winter Sports Clinic.

Coming July 13 to 18 is the 33rd annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Tampa. The 17 competitive events include air guns, archery, basketball, bowling, track and field, handcycling, motorized wheelchair rally, nineball, power soccer, quad rugby, slalom, softball, swimming, table tennis, trapshooting and weightlifting.

The registration deadline is April 15, and is limited to 550 athletes. Get your registration packet online at www.va.gov/opa/speceven/ssc or call Paralyzed Veterans of America at 800-424-8200, ext. 752 or 657. If you were OEF/ OIF/OND, there is a grant program for expenses if this will be your first Games. If you want to go, get started on the paperwork. One requirement is that your doctor must sign a Physical Exam Form (Forms C & D).

If you’re unable to attend, check for a sports club near you. The Sports Club Finder on the VA’s webpage linked above has a searchable index of clubs by state and ZIP code. For example, ZIP code 83709 (Boise, Idaho) lists Paralympic Sport Boise, which has summer swimming and triathlon.

ZIP code 27105 lists Triad Trackers, which is a member of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) in Winston-Salem, N.C. The listing notes that 15 percent of the members are disabled veterans.

ZIP code 68134, which is Omaha, Neb., lists a chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America. It offers both summer and winter Paralympic sports, including archery, shooting, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, boccia, powerlifting, track and field, sled hockey and bowling.