Pasadena Native Competes in 2017 Warrior Games

By Rick Burke, Navy Office of Community Outreach

CHICAGO – The 2017 Department of Defense Warrior Games kicked off June 30^th with competitions over the weekend in shooting, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, and track.  

Navy Petty Officer 2^nd Class Roel Espino, (middle), a 2006 Pasadena High School graduate and Pasadena, California native, placed 7^th in the 10 m air rifle standing open competition.  He will compete in archery on July 3 and will wrap up his games with the field competition on July 5.

“Team Navy” joins more than 250 seriously wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans at the Department of Defense Warrior Games, which will end on July 8.  

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. Cmdr. Jenn Womble, Team Navy Public Affairs

For more information about the 2017 DoD Warrior Games, please visit http://www.dodwarriorgames.com/.