Wounded warriors gain confidence during Pentagon volleyball contest

Wounded warriors gain confidence during Pentagon volleyball contest
Army News Service
J.D. Leipold
November 30, 2013

WASHINGTON
Gung-ho spirits were the norm as wounded-warrior athletes from the four services, U.S. Special Operations Command and the Department of Veterans Affairs clashed at the 3rd Annual Joint Services Sitting Volleyball Tournament, in recognition of Warrior Care Month.

Held in the Pentagon Athletic Club, Nov. 21, and hosted by the Office of Warrior Care Policy, the tourney showcases the services' Warrior Transition units. It also highlights the commitment of wounded, ill and injured service members to their physical and mental well-being through the Military Adaptive Sports Program, begun in 2011.

Before the two final games which pitted the Marine Corps against Air Force and Army against SOCOM, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Warrior Care Policy Donna Seymour spoke about DOD's commitment to "building a ready and resilient force," the theme for this year's Warrior Care Month.

"Military adaptive sports facilitate stress release and it provides reconditioning and camaraderie between our veterans and our active-duty service members and it improves their overall health and well-being as they adopt an added healthy lifestyle," she said. "To date in the last year, almost 100,000 recovering service members have participated in daily activities including yoga, wheelchair basketball, cycling, track and field, strength conditioning, swimming and sitting volleyball."

Seymour added that as confidence is built in one area such as physical competence, confidence in the emotional domain also increases. DOD Warrior Care Policy intends to expand the number of competitive sports and ultimately allow them to be included in the annual Warrior Games. She said her office also wants to increase participation by female athletes as well as service members with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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