Rolling to Victory: Team GLA Competes at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games
Four Veterans from VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS) joined their peers from nationwide to compete at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games on July 25-30, in New Orleans.
The Wheelchair Games are the world’s largest wheelchair sports and rehabilitation event solely for military Veterans, and it is more than just a competition. This event is an inspiring testament to the indomitable spirit and resilience of Veterans who have faced significant physical challenges.
Only Veterans with spinal cord injuries, amputations, multiple sclerosis, or other central neurological conditions who require a wheelchair for athletic competition are allowed to participate. Romilson Oania, Registered Kinesiotherapist at VAGLAHS and Wheelchair Games coach, also joined the Veterans he helped train for the event.
“I get to work with spinal cord injury patients year-round at the Spinal Cord Injury/Disease Clinic. Those that are interested in attending the Wheelchair Games, I’m able to prep them throughout the year and get them ready. I love working with them from start to finish and seeing what they’re able to accomplish,” said Oania.
This year, Team GLA participated in swimming, cornhole, pickleball, powerlifting, air rifle, bowling, cycling, disc golf, javelin, shot put, discus, boccia, slalom, softball, nine ball, and football.
In each sport, Veterans benefit from utilizing different adaptive sports chairs, said Oania. Typically, chairs designed primarily for basketball and tennis can also be used for pickleball and football. There are also a lot of different prosthetic adaptations, such as knee and elbow braces, that could be ordered as well to help Veterans participate in the wide range of adaptive sports available to them.
Jesse Swalley, a 62-year-old U.S. Navy Veteran, was at an Angel City soccer game in Van Nuys, California, when Oania approached him about participating in the Wheelchair Games this year. Swalley enjoys adaptive skateboarding using his knees and Oania thought he might be interested in learning other adaptive sports.
“I have a lot of friends who are disabled,” said Swalley. “Not everyone can or wants to ride a skateboard, but if they can see me throwing a shot put, discus, javelin, or even playing pickleball in the wheelchair, maybe I can motivate them to go out and do more.”
Motivating other Veterans, especially teammates, and developing friendships is a large part of what makes the Wheelchair Games so special.
Tanya Gardner, a 60-year-old U.S. Air Force Veteran, is also a first-time participant in the Wheelchair Games and has been practicing with Swalley, at the VAGLAHS training sessions and outside VA at community adaptive sports events.
“The best part is the interaction with other people. I’ve also become involved with Triumph Foundation for adaptive sports and it’s just been great,” said Gardner.
Before her injury, Gardner was very active and enjoyed tennis, basketball, softball and martial arts. She also competed and taught rodeo events for 28 years. After her injury, Gardner said her life revolved around going to doctors and sitting at home.
After talking with Oania about the Wheelchair Games and adaptive sports, she decided to try it.
“It was definitely a new experience for me. I haven’t traveled, flown at all, since my injury. We did a lot of things that I’ve never done, not just in the competition,” said Gardner. “I’ve also never spent a week in a hotel since my injury.”
Tanya and Swalley continue to play pickleball together a couple times a week after the 2024 Wheelchair Games, and look forward to competing next year.
“We belong to a [pickleball] group in Glendale, California, and we’re going to keep doing it. We’re going to continue doing more events. That’s the only way to get good at it,” said Swalley.
At this year’s Wheelchair Games in the novice division, Gardner placed gold in bowling and silver in discus, shot put and javelin, and Swalley placed gold in discus and powerlifting, silver in shot put, and bronze in javelin.
Their teammates also brought home the gold. William “Bill” Brandt, a 78-year-old Air Force Veteran, placed gold in adaptive fitness and powerlifting in the seniors division and Jessica Martinez, a 32-year-old Navy Veteran, placed gold in javelin and silver in adaptive fitness, powerlifting, discus and shot put in the open division.
For more information regarding the National Veterans Wheelchair Games please visit WheelchairGames.org. For questions regarding the Greater Los Angeles Adaptive Sports Team, please contact Romilson Oania, RKT, at 818-891-7711 ext. 32667 or Romilson.Oania@va.gov.