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Val Towley
IP: 64.59.48.226 Jun 29, 06 - 10:32 PM |
Rehab on Rollers
Val Towley ................................. Rehab on Rollers It's been 24 years since the first athletic competition among disabled veterans in wheelchairs. What started the ball rolling for what would finally become the National Veterans Wheelchair Games was the fact that the Department of Veterans Affairs had long been involved in wheelchair sports. When the Second World War ended these veterans, disabled and recovering in VA hospitals, started playing basketball in their wheelchairs right there at the various medical centers. Then they expanded beyond wheelchair basketball to wheelchair swimming, archery, field and track and bowling. Associations evolved as a result for the enthusiasm generated by these wheelchair sports. Wheelchair competition in the various sports arenas now include basketball, archery, air guns, archery, nine ball, bowling, trap shoots, power rally, slaloms, rugby, trap shooting, power chair 220, motor rallying, softball, hand cycle, table tennis, swimming, and track. More and more disabled veterans joined the competition each year. In 1980 Recreation Therapy Services became a routine part of the US VA rehabilitation array of therapeutic services. Therapists as the VA medical centers all over now regularly recognize what therapeutic and rehabilitative effect these games have on these disabled veterans. To compete in any of these sports with their wheelchairs, these athletes have to qualify and be placed competitively with others whose disability degrees are similar. Each is given a medical exam for this purpose. Three quadriplegic classifications emerge, as well as four paraplegic classifications. Amputees get divided up by the degree of their amputation. Victims of stroke, multiple sclerosis and other such disabilities are also classified according to their impairment level. 1981 debuted the National Veterans Wheelchair Games. The year became known as the "International Year of Disabled Persons. The first event took place in Richmond Virginia at the city's VA medical center. 74 disabled veterans brought their wheelchairs from 14 states to compete in such sports as billiards, table tennis, weightlifting and swimming. What this initiated among those who participated was the strength of camaraderie and having something in common. Hundreds of disabled veterans now compete in the Games every year. By 1985 the National Veterans Wheelchair Games were complex, huge and expensive. The sponsor medical centers were struggling to cope with them. The group called the Paralyzed Veterans of America not only became co-sponsor to help the events but also went out to a variety of corporations and influenced them to cosponsor as well. Corporate sponsorships are an ongoing and vital part of keeping these games alive. 1987 was the first year disabled veterans came from as far away as the UK to compete. UK disabled veterans now take part each year. The British Ex-Services Wheelchair Sports association sprang up and now produces wheelchair games with an international flavor that are held every few years in the UK. The National Veterans Wheelchair Games has turned into the largest sports event for wheelchairs held annually anywhere on the globe. More than 500 wheelchair-bound veterans come from 46 states to take part. They come from Puerto Rico and the UK as well. St. Louis Missouri hosted the games in 2004, Minneapolis Minnesota in 2005 and Anchorage Alaska will host this year. As part of the 2006 games competition organizers seek 2000 or more volunteers. These helpers will help with transportation and meals, set up the sites of the games, keep score and times, take pictures and hand out water. If interested in volunteering for the games July 3rd through 8th you can apply online. Both the Veterans Administration and the PVA stay committed to these wheelchair games and their rehabilitating effect on our disabled veterans. Val Towley is the owner of Wheelchairs Net which is an excellent place to find wheelchairs links, resources and articles. For more information go to: http://www.wheelchairsnet.com/ |
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