There are millions of people out there ignoring disabilities and accomplishing incredible feats. I learned you can learn to do things differently, but do them just as well. I’ve learned that it’s not the disability that defines you, it’s how you deal with the challenges the disability presents you with. And I’ve learned that we have an obligation to the abilities we DO have, not the disability.
- Jim Abbott, former MLB pitcher
As hundreds of wounded, ill and injured Service members and Veterans assemble in Colorado Springs, CO over the next few days to participate in the 2013 Warrior Games, the National Resource Directory (NRD) will continue to support them and their families by providing easy access to more than 14,000 organizations and programs at the federal, state and community levels.
Participants will compete in archery, cycling, shooting, sitting-volleyball, swimming, track and field, and wheelchair basketball – activities which can be found in the NRD’s Recreation & Sports folder. Also, users can explore other organizations like Fishing Has No Boundaries, which provides recreational fishing activities for Service members and Veterans with disabilities, or the United States Association of Blind Athletes’ Military Sports Program, which provides sports activities for blind and visually impaired Veterans and Service members.
For a more localized search, the NRD’s Recreation & Sports folder can be refined by state or city. Also, visitors can find great local level adaptive sports programs in the communities they live in: Higher Ground Sun Valley in Idaho, Lakeshore serving wounded warriors in Alabama or even horse riding programs in South Carolina from Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding. If there are organizations providing help to our Service members, Veterans or their families, you can search for them on the NRD.
When the Warrior Games come to a close and the medals have been given out, there are still opportunities for everyone involved to continue participating in adaptive sports wherever they call home.
The NRD will continue to work to ensure that they, and everyone else, can find those opportunities in one place: www.nrd.gov.