|
Wheelchair Curling Demonstration Planned in Milwaukee as Part of National Veterans Wheelchair Games
// USA Curling
// June 19, 2007
|
Paralympian Jimmy Joseph will be part of a wheelchair curling demonstration at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games.
|
STEVENS POINT, Wis. - Wheelchair curling will be featured as part of the 27th National Veterans Wheelchair Games which are underway in Milwaukee this week.
A wheelchair curling exhibition will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee. USA Curling Wheelchair Development Director Steve Brown and 2006 Olympic women's coach Neil Doese will be on hand to answer questions and give curling instructions. 2006 Paralympian Jimmy Joseph of Hartford, N.Y., will be assisting in the demonstration.
Wheelchair curling became a full-medal sport at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games. The U.S. team finished eighth and followed up with a fifth-place finish at the 2007 World Wheelchair Championship held in February in Sweden. Organized wheelchair curling in the U.S. began in the 1990s in Seattle but became more popular in the past few years. The sport relies upon skill and strategy with minor rules modifications from the original sport including no sweeping of the stone.
The National Veterans Wheelchair Games are a multi-event sports and rehabilitation program for military service veterans who use wheelchairs for sports competition due to spinal cord injuries, amputations, or certain neurological problems. Attracting more than 500 athletes each year, the National Veterans Wheelchair Games is the largest annual wheelchair sports event in the world.
|
