November 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 23

Paddleboarding and archery are among
the activities the City of San Diego Park
and Recreation Department, Therapeutic
Recreation Services (TRS) offers to injured
service members and to veterans.

Freedom on Four Wheels
With the funds from UnitedHealthcare,
TRS also hosted a wheelchair basketball
scrimmage in August of 2016 to celebrate the opening of the PDLC gymnasium, where TRS plans to host more
wheelchair sports tournaments in the future. As part of its pre-season, the Naval
Medical Center's team, Wolfpack, took
on the Adaptive Sports and Recreation's
team, Hammer.
The wheelchair basketball program
is helping veterans stay strong and continue to experience that sense of comradery. U.S. Marine Corps veteran and
Wolfpack Wheelchair basketball player
Jorge Salazar says: " It's very important
to have a facility like this. We can't just

Photos courtesy Nick Hurd

activities. We strive to create different
opportunities that are not being offered
as much, in addition to highlighting our
local community resources, such as the
bay, beaches and mountains. " The staff
reports that participants really enjoy
relaxing and mellow outdoor activities
that do not need extreme/extensive
physical conditioning.
Paddleboarding and archery are
among the activities offered through
TRS. " Seeing the enjoyment of an injured service member hitting a bullseye
during archery or having an injured service member with Parkinson's stand up
on a paddleboard, brings a lot of enjoyment and excitement to me personally, " says Hurd. The feedback frequently
given by the injured service members is
that the programs are low-stress and the
instruction is thorough and provided in a
safe, non-intimidating environment. One
participant shared that there are days he
does not want to leave his house and is
very depressed, but he'll come out to the
archery program every time, no matter what. The program staff knows that
stressful situations can lead to participants not wanting to come back.
go outside in the street and play because
it completely destroys our wheelchairs,
so when we have a beautiful court, great
facility and great staff, it makes it so
much better. This is our new battlefield
here. It allows you to get that sensation
that you're going fast again. Whether
it's a layup or you get hit, you get right
back up and keep going. " Salazar, a single dad of two, is a double above-theknee amputee.
Quality vs. Quantity
The veterans program has been in place
for approximately a year. From the outset, the staff has encouraged feedback
from the participants to improve the
existing programs and to see what they

would like to try in the future. They've
observed that many new bonds and
friendships have been formed and, since
many of the members belong to different
organizations, the program staff is beginning to collaborate with those organizations to create new programs.
" Starting a new program to members
who currently have a variety of recreational opportunities already available to
them can be difficult. It may sound easy,
but not oversaturating the programs with
the same recreational opportunities is a
challenge. In addition, identifying the
best time and day for programs is challenging, to avoid conflicting opportunities for participants, " explains Hurd.
" There are a lot of resources for military
members for recreation, but if you make
positive and meaningful bonds with your
members or participants, they typically
continue coming back to your programs.
Get to know your audience and make
them feel welcome, " he advises.
" My advice would be to focus on quality over quantity, " Razo adds. " There
are many veterans, and you could have
huge programs with big numbers, but
when you have a smaller group, you
build relationships and, therefore, in my
opinion, make more of a difference in
their lives. "
Sonia Myrick is the Executive Editor for Parks &
Recreation magazine (smyrick@nrpa.org).

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November 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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