Fishing boat captains needed for NVWG

Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System and Bayou Gulf States PVA Chapter will host the 43rd National Veterans Wheelchair Games in New Orleans from July 25 - 30, 2024, at various venues across the metro area, including Bayou Segnette, and the New Orleans Morial Convention Center.

The 2024 Games will bring together hundreds of Veterans from across the U.S to compete in adaptive sports events. The competitors will participate in a Bass Fishing Tournament @Bayou Segnette (first year added to NVWG) 21 events categories, including wheelchair basketball, swimming, cycling, powerlifting, rugby, billiards, and the 1st time as a medal event cornhole and more. 

We invite Fishing Boat Captains  to play a special part in the debut of Bass Fishing as a competitive event at the 2024 National Veterans Wheelchair Games (NVWG) in New Orleans, LA. The NVWG has been co-hosted annually by Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs for over forty years. 

We are adding a one-day team fishing tournament at Bayou Segnette State Park located in Westwego. Louisiana. This will be a team tournament with a 5 fish limit. A partner pairing banquet will be hosted at the Hilton Riverside on July 22, 2024, at 5 pm. The tournament will take place July 23, 2024.  We are recruiting 30 boat captains to support the Veterans registered for the tournament. PVA’s long time partners B.A.S.S. will host the weigh-in. You will feel like you are at the BASSMASTER Classic! 

You will be fishing with a disabled veteran in a team tournament and able to help as much as their injury dictates. We ask that you have at least a 17-foot boat with no more than a 250 hp motor, working live well and kill switch and working trolling motor. All boats must have standard coast guard equipment and be in good working order. We also ask that you bring an extra life jacket. 

All Veterans are pre-registered, and many are avid anglers with a love for fishing.  As a potential boat captain, you will be vetted by our head official and tournament director, Neal Lazarus. Neal serves as the head tournament director for the PVA Bass Tournament Series.

All captains will be responsible for their own travel, expenses and gas. We will provide dinner at the partner pairing banquet, along with breakfast, lunch, water, and ice on tournament day. 

This will be a memorable event for you and your Veteran angler.  As part of the National Veterans Wheelchair Games Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals will be awarded, but the true reward will be the opportunity to serve an and support Veterans.

If you have additional questions, please reach out to Neal Lazarus, Head Official at 407.383.4223 or Jennifer Purser, Co-Director of the NVWG at 804.398.0446. We are very excited to bring fishing to the NVWG and to open new opportunities for Veterans and to have B.A.S.S. be part of this great event. We look forward to creating amazing memories for our participants.

“The National Veterans Wheelchair Games is the world’s largest annual wheelchair sports and rehabilitation event solely for military veterans. The event demonstrates the unstoppable character of veterans and seeks to foster wider respect and opportunities for all people with disabilities. It is a privilege and an honor to partner with the Paralyzed Veterans of America and host the Games in the City of New Orleans,” said Fernando O. Rivera, CEO/Medical Center Director, Southeast Louisiana Veteran HCS. 

“Being a National Veterans Wheelchair Games Athlete and a winner of over twenty different medals (10 Gold, 6 Silver, and 5 Bronze), over fifteen years and currently a coach for five years through today, I can attest to what it is like to be one of today's veterans' athletes participating in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games whether it's for the first time or twenty times. With the games being the largest, and most exhilarating and exciting all Veterans Adaptive Sports Event in the USA and perhaps the world next to the Invictus Games founded by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, March 6, 2014.  The Veteran Wheelchair Games offer Veteran athletes with physical disabilities a positive outlook through supportive recreational sports and socialization that enhances their value in life. It also aids in their independence and gives them the opportunity to compete and gain new friends for life. "The Spirit of The Games" is a moto they will hear and an experience they will never forget.” said Julius Lee, President of the Bayou Gulf States PVA Chapter.

Please sign up to be a boat captain with head official, Neal Lazarus. He can be contacted by email at neallazarus@earthlink.net or by phone at 407.383.4223. 

Any additional questions about the National Veterans Wheelchair Games please contact Christina Bordelon at Christina.bordelon@va.gov.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.  We hope to see you on the water!

Want to volunteer or know someone that wants to volunteer?  Please go to www.wheelchairgames.org 

Go under Community and then click Volunteer to register.