Sports & Recreation
Wheelchair sports are here, and Paralyzed Veterans of America – Texas Chapter is leading the way to bring them to you!
There’s a sport for everyone, no matter your level of ability — even if you have never tried wheelchair sports before. We offer competition for all abilities and experience in a variety of adaptive sports and recreational activities.
Paralyzed Veterans’ Sports and Recreation programs help our members and all veterans with a disability get back into life. The National Veterans Wheelchair Games (co-presented annually with the Department of Veterans Affairs), Fishing, Sporting Clays, Billiards, Bowling, and the Outdoor Sports Program demonstrate the many and varied activities we provide to ensure an active lifestyle remains a possibility for veterans with catastrophic injuries. Our programs are open to all individuals – We encourage anyone with any disability including amputation, traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder, or neurological disorders such as MS or ALS to join us at our events.
Each year several of our members and their caregivers attend the Winter Sports Clinic (co-presented by the DAV and Department of Veterans Affairs) where veterans learn Alpine and Nordic skiing and are introduced to a variety of other activities and sports such as rock climbing, scuba diving, curling, snowmobiling and sled hockey. U.S. Secret Service instructors also attend to teach self-defense to participants who are in wheelchairs or are visually impaired. Clinic participation is open to male and female U.S. military service veterans with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic amputations, visual impairments, certain neurological problems and other disabilities. Participants include Veterans from all eras, from WWII to Veterans from the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sports have therapeutic benefits on physical, mental, and social well-being. In addition, adaptive sports (wheelchairs sports) and recreational activities have been show to help alleviate or lessen secondary infections, depression, or other conditions that individuals with spinal cord injury are more prone to experience. We offer an alternate sports option for members that choose not to participate in either NVWG or WSC. Twice a year a member with 75 volunteer points/request can request the funds put towards an alternate sport.
We provide newly injured service-members and severely disabled veterans the opportunities and skills to return to as active and healthy a lifestyle as possible. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this is to get them involved in recreational activities that they enjoy, and challenge them physically and mentally. Since every service member has military training with firearms, hunting and shooting sports is a common ground for interaction between the experienced Shooting Sportsman and new Shooting Sportsman. The integration of experienced and new attendees at our events helps to make the tasks seem less daunting. Participation in an event with someone else who has a disability can be an added incentive to accomplish the goal. We have found that the sooner a person returns to an active lifestyle the healthier they stay, both mentally and physically. By giving service-members a break from their medical routine, and engaging them in activities they enjoy, we can help them avoid or reduce depression, and at the same time help them learn to adapt and adjust to living in the “real world” with their disabilities. We provide our outings at no cost to our member, and provide all equipment, meals, ammunition, etc., including most adaptive equipment or modifications needed. We have the adaptive equipment and the experience to handle a wide range of disabilities, including: Paraplegia, Quadriplegia, amputations (including multiple amputations), loss of vision(including total blindness), and Traumatic Brain injury. We have not yet found a disability we can’t overcome. The joy and confidence seen on the participants’ face is priceless!
We work with other organizations, like STRAPS & Houston Parks and Recreation to name a few, and communities to offer a variety of events for our members. If a member is not interested in hunting, per se and he/she enjoys photography or painting/drawing we invite them to join us at the hunting events to enjoy the environment and shoot their camera instead of a rifle. We encourage our members to let us know of new and exciting events happening in the area.
Adaptive Sports, Wheelchair Sports & Recreation
- Archery
- Wheelchair Basketball
- Boccia
- Wheelchair Curling
- Fishing – Bass, Pier, Deep Sea, Boat
- Wheelchair Rugby
- Air Rifle/Pistol Competitions
- Wheelchair Bowling – Ramp & Wheelchair
- Power Soccer
- Sporting Clays
- Skeet Shooting
- Trapshooting
- Hunting
- Wheelchair Softball
- Wheelchair Football
- Table Tennis
- Snow skiing
- Water skiing
- Scuba diving
- Equine Therapy