| World Sport Chicago – 2013 Valor Games Midwest World Sport Chicago invites veterans and service members with physical and visual disabilities to register for the 2013 Valor Games Midwest, August 12-14, in Chicago, Ill. This introductory competition is an opportunity for veterans and service members with physical and visual disabilities to learn about and compete in a variety of adaptive sports. Activities include shot put, discus, archery, cycling, indoor rowing and powerlifting. This is the third year the event will be hosted by World Sport Chicago (WSC). WSC’s mission is to provide sport opportunities to individuals in under-resourced communities. These can be geographic, with many of our programs and services being provided in some of Chicago’s most under-served neighborhoods, or it can refer to communities of people. WSC’s Paralympic and disability sport programs focus on serving individuals with physical and visual disabilities – a community of individuals that often lacks access to sport and recreation. Much of what we do is focused on bolstering the activities offered by a multitude of community-based partner agencies, while WSC also provides in-school sports programs for kids with physical and visual disabilities. The Valor Games Midwest was created by WSC three years ago, focused solely on serving veterans and service members with disabilities and offering this community an introduction to adaptive sport competition. Many organizations around the country offer military-specific, entry-level camps and clinics, but prior to the Valor Games Midwest, there was no novice-level competition specifically for veterans and service members with disabilities. The Valor Games model has proven so successful that the event is being hosted in three additional regions in 2013. The Valor Games Southeast are coming up later in May in Raleigh, N.C., Valor Games Far West will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area in June and Valor Games Southwest will be in San Antonio, Texas this September. “WSC is proud to have led the creation of the Valor Games model and we hope participants in all four events use those three days of competition as a springboard to becoming more active and involved in their communities when they return home,” said Scott Myers, WSC executive director. “Without support from U.S. Paralympics, Department of Veterans Affairs and, for WSC, the Chicago Park District, this tremendous event would not be possible.” Individuals that qualify to compete are service members and veterans with amputation, spinal cord injuries, blindness/vision, traumatic brain injury, permanent orthopedic injuries, any disability rating from the VA and those with PTSD. Participants are responsible for the cost of their travel to/from Chicago, but upon arrival, all expenses related to lodging, meals and ground transportation are covered. There is no cost to register and adaptive equipment is provided. For more information, or to register, please visit Valor Games Midwest. |