Michigan athletes compete in 2012 Paralympic Games ...

Paralyzed Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, and Military Order of the Purple Heart are three congressionally chartered veterans service organizations that support sports and recreation programs for military veterans for rehabilitation and fitness.

Some of the athletes that benefit from their programs are going to the London 2012 Paralympic Games that begin Wednesday and end Sept. 9.

PVA?s programs include the PVA Sports 32nd National Veterans Wheelchair Games that co-hosted 540 disabled U.S. military veteran athletes in June in Richmond, Va., with the Department of Veterans Affairs. The multi-event sports rehabilitation program is open to vets who use wheelchairs for sports competition due to spinal cord injuries, amputations or certain neurological problems, and who receive care at VA medical facilities or military treatment centers.

Competition includes air guns, archery, basketball, bowling, field, hand-cycling, nine-ball, motorized wheelchair relay, power soccer, quad rugby, softball, swimming, table tennis, track and field, trapshooting, weightlifting and wheelchair slalom.

Founded in 1946, PVA advocates for the rights of veterans and non-veterans who have disabilities, and focuses on spinal cord injury and disease. There are about 19,000 members.

PVA has a PVA-AWBA Bowling Tournament Series, a PVA-NWPA Billiards Tournament Series, a PVA Bass Tour, the PVA National Trapshoot and air rifle-air pistol competitions in locations all over the country. As part of the PVA Fitness and Wellness Program, the Paralyzed Veterans Racing Team has upcoming competitions in the Tour de La France in South Carolina; in the Pensacola Cycling Classic and in the Rims on the Run in Florida; and in the Army Ten Miler in Washington, D.C. Contact PVA Sports and Recreation at 1-800-424-8200, ext. 752 or 657, or Tom Brown at 817-225-2415.

Scot Severn, 44, of Caro, is the sports director for Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America, based in Novi.

He is one of 20 U.S. military vets among the 227 disabled athletes named by the United States Olympic Committee to be part of the U.S. Paralympic Team competing in London. The team, that includes six guides for visually impaired athletes, comprises 133 men and 94 women.

Severn became partially paralyzed in 1989 when he was struck by lightning while on duty with the U.S. Army Reserves at Camp Grayling. He graduated from Saginaw Valley State, married in 1994, and is the father of three children. He plays rugby for the Michigan Storm team.

He competed in shot put and discus at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic games where he was seventh in discus and ninth in shot put. He set a personal record then, and threw a national record, and has since set a new personal record. He goes into his second Paralympic Games as the U.S. No. 1-ranked shot put, discus and javelin thrower. He also is first nationally in discus and javelin. In world ranking, he is No. 2 in shot put and in the top five in discus and javelin. Continued...

Severn hopes to be ready for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He does three-hour workouts every other day, plus has throwing practice, and says that military training helps athletes with sports training.

Severn has traveled the world competing with premier athletes in field events and has received wheelchair rugby Most Valuable Player awards, earned silver medals in the discus and shot at the Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, and holds numerous national records. He was the Michigan Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame?s Athlete of the Year for 2005.

In the track and field competition at the Paralympic Games, the United States is represented by 58 athletes making it the largest sport delegation for Team USA. Three of the athletes set world records at the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Trials ? Track and Field in Indianapolis.

There are 170 medal events ? 96 track, 70 field, and four road for 740 men and 360 women competitors at the Olympic Park ? Olympic Stadium (track and field) and The Mall (marathon.)

Severn?s teammates include a U.S. Navy vet from San Diego, and U.S. Army vets from Long Beach, Calif., Atlanta, Ga., and Pittsburgh, Pa. Athletics includes archery, cycling, fencing, rowing, shooting, sitting volleyball, soccer, swimming, wheelchair rugby, track and field, road running, cross-country running and race walking.

Paralympians are grouped into classes according to visual impairment and intellectual impairment such as traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, amputations or limb deficiencies, and for those using a wheelchair to compete.

Severn?s fellow veteran, U.S. Navy Lt. Bradley Snyder, who was blinded in Afghanistan, competes in swimming on the one-year anniversary of his injury.

The Paralympic Games has about 4,200 athletes in competition. Americans will take part in 19 contested areas. Additional sports are boccia, equestrian, goalball, judo, powerlifting, sailing, soccer seven-a-side, table tennis, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing and wheelchair tennis.

At the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, Team USA claimed a total of 99 medals, finishing third overall. Nineteen Beijing medalists are going to London including 11 other Michigan natives. Continued...

The Paralympic Movement began in England. The ?para? in Paralympic means parallel (to the Olympics.)

VA Paralympic website

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs launched a website for its Paralympic program a year ago as part of the VA?s ongoing commitment to support the rehabilitation and recovery of disabled veterans through participation in adaptive sports that encourages independence, reduced dependency on pain and depression medication, and reduces stress. The site contains information on training allowances, the VA Paralympic Grant Program, and resources for caregivers and VA clinical personnel. It is at va.gov/adaptivesports.

The program provides Olympic standard training, equipment, coaching and logistics for regional sports events for veterans hospitals and disabled veterans support services throughout the U.S. In addition to $8 million in annual funding to operate the program, $2 million a year is available for grants to individual disabled veterans to pay for additional athletic training needs.

More than $4.4 million in funds from the VA was awarded to 95 community-based organizations in support of Paralympic sport and physical activity programs for disabled vets and disabled members of the armed forces. Grants ranging from $2,500 to $500,000 were provided to USOC partner organizations and community programs to increase the opportunities for disabled veterans to participate in physical activity within their home communities and in more Paralympic programs at the regional and national levels.

Veterans training in eligible adaptive sports can apply for a monthly assistance allowance through the Paralympics Program if they meet the qualifying military standard for that particular sport. A veteran may be eligible whether his or her disability is service-related or non-service-related.

Rehabilitation and sports clinic for vets

The National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic promotes rehabilitation of body and spirit by teaching summer sporting activities to veterans with significant physical or psychological impairments. The clinic offers such sports as surfing, sailing, kayaking, track and field, and cycling to veterans who are newly injured from amputations, traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and other neurological disorders.

The National Veterans Golden Age Games is a national multi-event sports competition and recreational program designed to improve the quality of life for older vets. The program for veterans age 55 and older offers 14 different sports and recreational activities.

The Military Order of the Purple Heart helps to sponsor the National Veterans Golden Age Games. The 26th annual event took place last spring in St. Louis where the commander of MOPH Missouri Chapter 125 presented checks totaling $34,000, including a $30,000 grant from the MOPH Service Foundation, for transportation, food, equipment and supplies for the events. Continued...

MOPH formed in 1932 for the protection and mutual interest of veterans and active duty men and women who have received the Purple Heart Medal for wounds received in combat.

Winter sports clinic and competition

The National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic instructs veterans with disabilities in adaptive Alpine and Nordic skiing and introduces them to other adaptive recreational activities and sports. Vets who have spinal cord injuries, amputations, traumatic brain injuries, neurological challenges and visual impairments may participate.

Disabled American Veterans and the VA co-sponsored the 26th annual clinic at Snowmass Village, Colo., in March for more than 400 participants who drew on the qualities they demonstrated in uniform to try winter and other sports. The group included nine active-duty service members and 94 veterans of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The event ? that also involves rock climbing, scuba diving, trapshooting, wheelchair fencing, sled hockey and snowmobiling ? is called ?Miracle on a Mountainside.?

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki is a disabled veteran who lost part of his right foot in Vietnam. He praised the strides the veterans at the clinic have made in their recuperation.

?You may have been injured, but life isn?t over. There is still a lot of living to do for all of us,? Shinseki said. ?It will be different, no doubt. And you are going to have to work hard to improve functionality. But that is the challenge and the triumph, every day ? to keep on living while you are living.?

Donald Samuels is immediate past DAV national commander.

?You have all faced down challenges in your service to our country, and I am urging you to rekindle your fighting spirit and do the same with the hurdles you may face here,? Samuels said. ?Make it part of your healing process.?

Seventh annual DAV golf outing

The Disabled American Veterans Department of Michigan holds its seventh annual Thomas A. McMasters III DAV golf outing on Sept. 8 at Fern Hill Country Club at 17600 Clinton River Road in Clinton Township. Register by Friday for the scramble format play, which is $320 per team for 18 holes. There is a 9 a.m. shotgun start, and hole sponsorships are available. Call 1-888-448-2328 for more information. There is a DAV office at 17779 E. 14 Mile Road in Fraser and a DAV thrift store in Westland.

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Source: http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2012/08/29/news/doc50395f6f933b4484687028.txt

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