Marine Corps Trials to test resolve of wounded Marines
2/22/2011
By
Cpl. Scott Schmidt
,
Headquarters Marine Corps
ARLINGTON, Va.
More than 150 wounded Marines gathered aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 21 for a chance to represent the Marine Corps at the annual Warrior Games later this year.
Riding a wave of victories from last year’s inaugural Warrior Games, the Marine Corps’ Wounded Warrior Regiment is sponsoring the first of its kind Marine Corps Trials to select the top 50 Marine athletes for the Paralympics-style competition.
U.S. Marines will go head-to-head in seven Paralympic sports, including wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball, archery, and swimming with Marines from England and the Netherlands during the 10-day trial period.
The trials are also a competition of their own. Four teams – east, west, veteran and international – will compete for team gold in a competitive sports setting.
Marine officials said the trials would foster the wounded Marines’ resolve in a team setting, which can be an important step in their recovery from multiple amputations and other traumatic injuries of war.
Marine athletes will be selected as members of the All-Marine team for the Warrior Games. The Warrior Games, a competition between all branches of service for wounded, ill, and injured service members, will take place in Colorado Springs, Colorado May 16-22, 2011.
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.-More than 150 wounded Marines, Marine veterans, and allied service members came together on Camp Pendleton, California, to compete in the 2011 Inaugural Marine Corps Trials -- a paralympics-style competition. The wounded Marines and Marine veterans will compete in swimming, archery, shooting, volleyball, basketball, and track & field events, for 50 spots on the Marine Corps' 2011 Warrior Games team. The trials are hosted by the Wounded Warrior Regiment, based out of Quantico, Virginia., Cpl. A.J. Lugo, 2/21/2011 8:26 AM
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.-Ray Hennagir, a swimmer and wheelchair basketball player for the Veterans Team, gets ready for the 50-meter backstroke event at the 2011 Inaugural Marine Corps Trials. Hennagir, a native of Hershey, Penn., suffered injuries June 2006 in Zaidon, Iraq, which lead to a bilateral amputation. Wounded Marine veterans and Marines with Wounded Warrior Battalions East and West came together in Camp Pendleton, California, to compete for one of 50 spots on the Marine Corps' 2011 Warrior Games team. An Allied Team also competed alongside the Marines., Cpl. A.J. Lugo, 2/21/2011 12:58 PM
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