![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/PVA.png\" "\\"PVA\\"")
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\nEach year more than 500 novice and experienced athletes meet for a week of archery, swimming, weightlifting, basketball, quad rugby and more. It\u2019s the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, the largest annual wheelchair sports competition of its kind in the world. It is a great chance for veterans to prove their abilities, and express a healthy active life while remaining competitive amongst the other contestants.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s games, the 32nd annual games, were held in Richmond, Virginia. It also happened to be the same location of where the 1st games were held. The participants from the first year never expected such growth in the competition. The first participants never expected the games to turn into what they have become today. Needless to say, things have changed since the year 1981. From 72 members competing in seven events with a budget of $5,000, these games have evolved to 540 members competing in 17 events in 2012. Sadly, this organization and competition is still unrecognized by many Americans. If the public were made more aware of spectacular groups such as the PVA, there would be a greater appreciation for veterans. <\/p>\n
Maddie McGillicuddy, a senior at Trumbull High school, said. \u201cThis is the first time I have ever heard of them, but I think it is a great cause. I love that fact that the injured and disabled veterans are given a second chance.\u201d <\/p>\n
Most people really do care for our veterans, but they just to be informed. The PVA is a perfect example for people to follow on how to support the ones who have put their lives on the line for us.\t<\/p>\n
One of the original participants, Wannie \u201cIke\u201d Cook was happy and proud to have the Games back in his town. \u201cAfter I was injured, this community accepted me and allowed me to live my life and supported me…I think this is the best area anywhere to grow up in, so it\u2019s great to showcase our city. I think the volunteers here were the best ever. They\u2019re so friendly and so supportive. I think that\u2019s indicative of this area.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Paralyzed Veterans of America have greatly affected many injured war heroes with the National Veterans Wheelchair Games by inspiring them to continue being physically active despite their disabilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mark Ballaro \u201813 EE Staff Writer The Paralyzed Veterans of America is an organization on a mission to change lives and build better futures for seriously injured heroes. Founded more than 65…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thseagleseye.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}