By Shannon Collins, DoD News, Defense Media Activity
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Members of the local community
and families of athletes enjoyed the experience of being an adaptive sports
athlete during the 2018 DoD Warrior Games’ first two-day exposition at the U.S.
Air Force Academy here.
About 300 wounded, ill and injured service members
representing teams from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force
and U.S. Special Operations Command, along with allied armed forces from the
United Kingdom, Australia, and for the first time at Warrior Games, Canada, are
competing in shooting, archery, cycling, track and field, swimming sitting
volleyball and wheelchair basketball through July 9.
The games are free and open to the public.
“In addition to putting on a top-notch athletic event for
our athletes, the Warrior Games Expo was designed to give families, caregivers,
military colleagues and the general public a first-hand experience of the world
of adaptive sports,” said Air Force Col. Cary Hepp, lead public affairs officer
for the 2018 DoD Warrior Games. “We also invited service organizations and
adaptive sports' national governing bodies with chapters throughout the
country. The intent was to link Warrior Games athletes and their families up
with organizations they can connect with when they return home.”
Many Activities
Throughout the two-day event, visitors enjoyed face
painting, games, science technology, engineering and mathematics demonstrations
for kids and visits from Air Force Academy athletes and “Wings of Blue”
parachute team members.
They also had a chance to meet national wheelchair rugby
team members and head coach James Gumbert, and see a demonstration and
experience the a little bit of the sport themselves.
Ryan Schwab, from Castle Rock, Colorado, said he brought his
sons, Nikolas, 9, and Cohen, 5, out to the expo because he loves the military.
His father, Leonard, served in the Army during Vietnam, and his father-in-law
retired from the Army as a command sergeant major. He was also a Vietnam
veteran.
Nikolas said he enjoyed rugby. “It was really run and
entertaining,” he said. “Some kids out there might not play like we do but this
is something they could do to entertain themselves and get their muscles up.”
Cohen said he enjoyed playing but got a little too much into
the match. “I scored a point but the blue team stole that last point. I loved
smashing into that blue team,” he said.
Air Force Capt. Alicia Hogan, 10th Medical Group, U.S. Air
Force Academy, brought her twin 5-year-old daughters, Emma and Courtney, to the
expo to give them perspective.
Gaining Perspective
“I wanted the girls to see some of the different abilities
these wounded warriors had, and some of the modifications they made so that
they can compete in the same sports we see on TV,” Hogan said. “It’s an
incredible experience just to see it from that perspective, and to realize just
how amazing some of the things they’re able to do are.”
Hogan said she thinks it’s a great opportunity for her fellow
service members and the general public to see what the athletes have trained
and worked toward. Hogan said she’s even pulling her daughters out of daycare
to try to watch some of the events such as swimming and basketball.
“We’re at the pool all the time in the summer so for them to
see how other people are able to swim, even with disabilities or physical
limitations, it will be amazing,” she said.
Nikky Williams, from Atlanta, is part of a team of
broadcasters from across the nation that came here to support the games and
cheer on the athletes and their families throughout the week. She said the
events have been an eye-opener.
“One of the main things you see when you get out here,
especially for someone like me who hasn’t been around military and military
families, is it really takes a village,” Williams said. “It’s not just the
sacrifice that our servicemen and women make. It’s their families, as well.
“Saying, ‘Thank you for your service,’ just doesn’t seem
like enough,” she continued. “I just feel like there’s nothing I could say to
express my gratitude to what these strong heroes and their families sacrificed
just so that we could be here to do what we love.”
Wheelchair Basketball
For Lauren Knoff, 17, participating in wheelchair basketball
helped her learn that she could still be active. She visited the expo with her
sister, Faith, 16, and mother, Cathy. They were there with their uncle, Air
Force Master Sgt. Dave Long, from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.
“I’ve had a lot of surgeries on my leg, and I struggle with
a lot of sports-related stuff. It’s really cool to see that there’s stuff
people like me can do and still be active,” Lauren said. “It’s cool to be able
to try it and feel what it’s like to play the games like the warriors do.”
She said her favorite activity of the day was wheelchair
basketball. “Basketball is so fun,” Lauren said. “It’s a lot of hard work. Your
arms can get pretty sore but it’s really fun to fly across the field.”
Lauren said she spent a lot of time in a wheelchair during
her surgeries on her leg but hadn’t interacted with people who were also in the
chair. “I’m not used to being able to bump people and knock them away,” she
said. “I’m not used to how the wheels are. You can go really fast. It’s nice.
They’re super-light and super-tiny. You can be a speedster.”
Lauren said watching the track and field athletes compete on
June 2 inspired her. “It was so awesome,” she said. “I almost cried so many
times in the last two days, just like at everything. It’s overwhelming. They’re
going above and beyond. It’s really inspiring to me. It makes me want to get
out and do stuff like they do. It’s really cool.”
Athletes Heal, Regain Confidence
“Participation in adaptive sports programs saves lives,”
Hepp said. “The Warrior Games and other rehabilitation and recovery programs
offered by each service provide opportunities for athletes to heal and to
regain confidence and purpose. Additionally, these athletes are competitors at
heart, and the Games offer them the experience to enjoy the camaraderie of
their fellow teammates throughout the week.”
Two-time Paralympian and Paralympian coach Karin Korb also
led wheelchair clinics throughout the two-day event. She said her favorite part
about wheelchair tennis is that it is an inclusive sport that helps disabled
athletes be prideful in their disability.
“You can play standing. Amputees can play on their
prosthetics. You can be a chair user; you can have a chronic health condition.
Tennis is so inclusive,” she said. “Disability is something to be prideful
about as a new identifier; just like people are proud of their color or sexual
orientation.”
She said having a disability can be difficult because of
barriers but “you can’t legislate attitudes but we can legislate what access
looks like,” she said.
Korb said having events like this where people can
experience, first-hand, disability through sport, help demonstrate that it’s
okay to approach people with disabilities and have open conversations.
“Sport is the game-changer to so many people, and that’s why
we love it so much,” she said.
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