30th National Veterans Wheelchair Games
July 4-9 Denver, CO
"Games with Heart ... a Mile High"
The National Veterans Wheelchair Games is the largest annual wheelchair sports event in the world. In 2009, 513 wheelchair athletes came from 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Great Britain to compete at the Games in Spokane, Washington. The 2010 Games will take place in Denver, Colorado, hosted by The VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System and Paralyzed Veterans of America, Mountain States Chapter.
The Games offer 17 different sports to Veterans who use wheelchairs due to spinal cord injuries, amputations, neurological diseases and other conditions. The Games promote rehabilitation through rigorous competition in such events as basketball, rugby, softball, handcycling and others. A special “Kids Day” program allows children with disabilities to meet the athletes and be introduced to wheelchair sports. While past Games have produced national and world-class champions, the Games also provide opportunities for newly disabled Veterans to gain sports skills and be exposed to other wheelchair athletes.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs and the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) are committed to the rehabilitation of disabled veterans through these Games, and will continue those efforts to make the National Veterans Wheelchair Games better every year.
INTERVIEWS with RICK CRANDALL:
Rick has a chat with Army vet, North Carolinian Kevin Coleman who is competing in bowling, discus, air guns, shotput and javelin! This is his 6th games. He was wounded in 1990-91 during Desert Storm/Shield. Kevin feels his life is for the better since his injury... find out why. Listen to Kevin Coleman
Louisiana's Christopher Sullivan is competing in his first games. He was very badly injured in May 2005 in Operation Iraqi Shield and now works for the VA helping other vets, as a way of paying back. Listen to Christopher Sullivan
Watch the video below and scroll down the page for more information,
history on the games, an event schedule and more.
CLICK HERE and read or download the complete schedule for the Games.
Many of the Games will take place inside the Colorado Convention Center, but some are at other venues around Denver.
If you need more information...
General Information:
Amanda Eckman
720-201-0455
amanda.eckman@va.gov
Volunteer Information:
Michelle Kirk or Susan Miller
303-399-8020 x2010
michelle.kirk@va.gov
susan.miller4@va.gov
History of the National Veterans Wheelchair Games
The National Veterans Wheelchair Games are an outgrowth of the Department of Veterans Affairs' historic involvement in wheelchair sports. Wheelchair sports had their beginning in the aftermath of World War II, when young disabled veterans began playing wheelchair basketball in VA hospitals throughout the United States. Interest in wheelchair basketball soon spread to other sports such as track and field, bowling, swimming, and archery, spawning the formation of several associations devoted to new and innovative wheelchair sports.
While the participation of paralyzed and other disabled veterans continued to flourish during the intervening years, it was not until 1980, when VA established a Recreation Therapy Service that VA's efforts brought about an enhanced awareness of the rehabilitative value of wheelchair athletics. Since then, VA therapists have used wheelchair sports as a therapeutic tool for treating disabled veterans.
The first National Veterans Wheelchair Games were held in 1981, the "International Year of Disabled Persons," at the VA Medical Center in Richmond, Va. That year, 74 veterans from 14 states competed in sports ranging from table tennis and billiards, to swimming and weightlifting. Those first Games established an enduring trait that has characterized the event ever since - a strong sense of common identity and camaraderie among the participants. The hundreds of veterans who choose to compete in the Games each year demonstrate their continuing popularity.
By 1985, the growing size, complexity, and resources needed for the Games presented a daunting challenge to VA medical centers hosting the program. Recognizing that most of the athletes were paralyzed veterans, the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) offered to become a co-sponsor. To help obtain resources needed to host this national event, PVA recruited corporations to join in support of the Games. Since 1985, PVA's corporate sponsor program has helped the Games grow, both in number of competitors as well as variety of sports offered.
In 1987, 12 British military veterans were invited to participate in the Games and a team from Great Britain has come every year since. After that first year, the British athletes formed a new disabled sports group - The British Ex-Services Wheelchair Sports Association. This group extended the philosophy behind the National Veterans Wheelchair Games to the rest of the world, hosting International Veterans Wheelchair Games in Great Britain in 1994, 1996, and 1999.
The Games offer 17 different sports to Veterans who use wheelchairs due to spinal cord injuries, amputations, neurological diseases and other conditions. The Games promote rehabilitation through rigorous competition in such events as basketball, rugby, softball, handcycling and others. A special “Kids Day” program allows children with disabilities to meet the athletes and be introduced to wheelchair sports. While past Games have produced national and world-class champions, the Games also provide opportunities for newly disabled Veterans to gain sports skills and be exposed to other wheelchair athletes.
The National Veterans Wheelchair Games are an outgrowth of the Department of Veterans Affairs' historic involvement in wheelchair sports. Wheelchair sports had their beginning in the aftermath of World War II, when young disabled veterans began playing wheelchair basketball in VA hospitals throughout the United States. Interest in wheelchair basketball soon spread to other sports such as track and field, bowling, swimming, and archery, spawning the formation of several associations devoted to new and innovative wheelchair sports. 