Veterans compete in The Rally, Titan archery tournament
Adaptive athletes conquered some new challenges on the first full day of competition at the 45th National Veterans Wheelchair Games (NVWG), cosponsored by Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs, in Detroit.
Starting off the day, veterans took on the newly renamed The Rally at The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Mich. Previously called the Motor Rally and designed strictly for power wheelchair users, this year’s event welcomed athletes with any type of mobility device. They answered trivia questions about Michigan and drew playing cards to try to get the best poker hand while touring the museum.
Army veteran and PVA Florida Chapter member Andy Berez took the opportunity to try the event for the first time.
The 76-year-old Miami, Fla., resident, who served from 1970 to 1972, had both legs amputated below the knee two months apart in 2013 and 2014, and he uses a manual wheelchair.
He enjoyed meeting people and says seeing the cars and memorabilia brought back a lot of memories.
“My first car was a 1954 Chevrolet. It only cost me $90,” Berez says. “Some mechanic was selling it. It smoked like crazy. All my friends called it the coffee maker because it smoked so much.”
He says he comes to the NVWG to help and support other veterans.
“I got a lot of help and a lot of support, so it’s payback time,” he says. “I have all these problems, but I see here people that are much worse than me, and those are the ones I like to be there for.”
Marine Corps veteran and PVA West Virginia Chapter member Corey Smith also tried a new event this year: the Titan Archery Johnny Appleseed tournament inside the Huntington Place convention center in Detroit. The event gave 14 NVWG athletes a chance to go head-to-head in an elimination-style tournament.
Archers aimed at paper targets with a picture of an apple placed 10 meters away and had just one arrow to hit the apple. Those who hit it moved on to the next round, where the picture of the apple became smaller. There were five total rounds of the apple decreasing in size. Then, athletes had to hit the outer ring on the apple, followed by the next ring closest to the center. The winner, which was Ryan Lindstrom, received a small apple-shaped trophy.
Although Smith didn’t make it to the fifth and final target, he literally lit up the apples with his carbon fiber arrows with a glowing nock, or the part that attaches to the bowstring.
“I got my bow with the purpose of hunting, so the arrows are for making it easier to track at night and locate them [downed game],” he says. “And then once I came to the Games, that’s just what I had equipped. So, I said, ‘Oh, I’ll just go with what I had already for the bow and arrows.’ But when I used them here on the targets, I thought they looked pretty good anyhow, so I just kept them.”
The 38-year-old Inwood, W.Va., resident served from 2005 to 2007 and was injured in Iraq in 2006 and had his left leg amputated below the knee. He says the Johnny Appleseed tournament was a fun addition to the NVWG.
“I just enjoy shooting archery, so when I saw that this was a tournament, that’s absolutely something I wanted to do, even though it’s been decades since I’ve done it [besides at the NVWG],” says Smith, who is competing in his third NVWG.
Smith says he grew up shooting archery and hunting with his family.
“It’s just calm and relaxing,” he says. “A lot of things you do frequently when you’re a kid comes back, and you do it when you’re older. It’s just something you enjoy.”
Smith says coming to the Games each year gives him goals and motivates him to keep working out at home.
“Whether you are young or old, recently disabled or have been disabled for a long time, every veteran should have an interest in coming to these events because it gets you around people similar or have been in similar places, treaded the same war zones that you have, and you get to see what you’re able to do that you haven’t done in a while,” he says.
NVWG competition runs through Tuesday at Huntington Place convention center in downtown Detroit and surrounding areas.