By Rick Burke, Navy Office of
Community Outreach Public Affairs
CHICAGO – The 2017 Department of Defense Warrior
Games kicked off June 30th with competitions over the weekend in shooting,
sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, and track.
Navy Chaplain Lt. Andrew Hoyle is a multisport athlete competing in cycling, swimming, and track.
Hoyle, a Fort Mill High
School graduate and Fort Mill, South Carolina native, competed in the 1500m,
400m, and 800m track races on July 2 and will compete in the cycling on July 6
and swimming on the last day of competition, July 8.
Hoyle and the rest of “Team Navy” join more than
250 seriously wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans at the Department
of Defense Warrior Games.
Navy athletes are competing against competitors from the Army,
Marine Corps, Air Force, Special Operations Command, Australian Defense Force
and the United Kingdom Armed Forces in cycling, track and field, shooting,
swimming, archery, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball.
The Navy honors the sacrifices of wounded warriors by providing
them top-notch non-medical support through Navy Wounded Warrior (NWW) – Safe
Harbor. All enrollees in NWW are encouraged to make athletics a key component
of their recovery efforts. By promoting wounded warrior participation in
competitions like the Warrior Games, NWW helps enrollees heal through adaptive
sports.
These games provide an opportunity for athletes to grow
physically, mentally and spiritually from the sportsmanship and camaraderie
gained by representing their respective service teams in a friendly and
spirited competition. It is an opportunity for athletes to showcase their
enduring warrior spirit in the presence of their families and grateful nation.
- - Lt. Jesus Uranga, Team Navy Public Affairs
For more information about the 2017 DoD Warrior Games, please
visit http://www.dodwarriorgames.com/.