Stay connected with Team Navy on Facebook and Instagram, and join us in cheering for the team at the 2023 Warrior Games Challenge!

For opportunities to sponor Team Navy during the 2023 Road to the Warrior Games Challenge, email navymwrsponsor.fct@navy.mil. 

The 2023 Department of Defense Warrior Games Challenge, hosted by The United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, will take place at Naval Air Station North Island, in San Diego, California, June 2023.

The goal of the Warrior Games Challenge isn't to identify the most skilled athletes, but rather to demonstrate the incredible potential of wounded warriors through competitive sports.

Like the Warrior Games, Warrior Games Challenge remains focused on recovery through adaptive sports, giving competitors from all service branches across the U.S. military an opportunity to train together for the first time outside of the official Warrior Games.

Warrior Games Challenge will remove some elements, but still giving wounded, ill, and injured service members and veterans an opportunity to train and compete with fellow warriors and support each other through their recovery journeys.

First held in 2010, the Warrior Games serves to enhance the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded warriors by providing a sense of camraderie as well as new sets of goals to work toward. Participation often represents the culmination of a service member’s involvement in an adaptive sports program and demonstrates the incredible potential of wounded warriors through competitive sports.

Navy Wounded Warrior trains Team Navy through its adaptive athletics program.

In the months leading to Warrior Games Challenge, Sailors and Coast Guardsmen who are enrolled in Navy Wounded Warrior are encouraged to attend a series of training camps and put their hat in for Team Navy during Trials. 

The adaptive sports and recreation program promotes the mental and physical well-being of wounded, ill, and injured service members as part of a larger continuum of care that service members receive through Navy Wounded Warrior. 

For many, participation in adaptive athletics represents another milestone along their path to recovery, and an opportunity to meet other wounded warriors who face similar challenges.

Thank you to the 2023 Road to the Warrior Games Challenge supporting sponsor Deloitte for their generous support.*

*No Navy endorsement implied.

Teams at Warrior Games Challenge include active-duty service members and veterans with serious wounds, injuries, and illnesses, both visible and invisible. The Paralympic-style competitive event will feature 12 sports: archery, cycling, field, golf, indoor rowing, precision air sports (shooting), powerlifting, track, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball, and wheelchair rugby.

Here is a sampling of what to expect from the 2023 Challenge.
 

Archery

Whether athletes are practicing at home or competing during the DoD Warrior Games, attention and focus are the keys to success. From the types of bows used in competition to the sport’s origin, click here to learn more about the sport.
 

Cycling

With cycling, your body is your engine, so it’s important to take care of it, especially off the bike. Fueling your body well, while eating a well-rounded nutritional diet and not burdening it with excess calories from junk food, is one of the key components to success in the sport. Click here to learn more about the sport.
 

Field

Field is comprised of two events: discus and shot put. Discus and shot put are two of the oldest field events in the sport of track and field. Both depend on explosive strength. However, it’s not just muscle power that helps athletes dominate in this sport. Shot putters and discus throwers also need quickness to generate momentum. From the explaining the term athletics to the Paralympic Games history, click here to learn more about the sport.
 

Indoor Rowing

Rowing machines use up to 86% of your muscles, according to the National Institute of Health. This, in turn, helps increase endurance, strengthens, and tones muscles. Rowing also provides benefits to your heart and lungs. Although, it’s typically considered low-impact for the average user, rowing burns serious calories without putting the added stress on your joints. It allows you to control the movement and pace. From an overview of indoor rowing’s origins to competition style, click here to learn more about the sport.
 

Powerlifting

Powerlifting is one of the Paralympic Movement’s fastest growing sports in terms of participation. Although weightlifting made its Paralympic debut at Tokyo 1964, it was not until the 1984 Games that powerlifting was first included as a Paralympic sport. From the sport’s Paralympic Games history to explaining the difference between weightlifting and powerlifting, click here to learn more about the sport.
 

Shooting

Shooting is the ultimate test of accuracy and control. In this precision sport, athletes use focus and controlled breathing to reduce their heart hearts and improve stability and high performance. This ability to steady hand and mind to deliver a sequence of shots requires well-developed powers of concentration and emotional control. This sport is all about coordination, balance, control and precision. From the sport’s Paralympic Games history to explaining the competition style, click here to learn more about the sport.
 

Sitting Volleyball

Sitting volleyball is a fast and exciting spectator sport, demanding excellent reactions, great upper body strength, stamina, balance, and tactical awareness. From the sport’s origin to explaining why one team member wears a different color jersey, click here to learn more about the sport.
 

Swimming

Swimming was one of the original Paralympic sports and has grown into the second-most popular in terms of TV viewers. The Paralympic pool measures the same length as the Olympic pool, at 50m in length and 25m wide. From the explaining the difference between road and track cycling to the sport’s origin, click here to learn more about the sport.

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About Adaptive Athletics

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Numquam Navigare Solus – Never to Sail Alone

Sailors and Coast Guardsmen may self-refer to Navy Wounded Warrior, or be referred by a family member, their command leadership or their medical team. Contact the Navy Wounded Warrior call center at 855-NAVY WWP / 855-628-9997, or email navywoundedwarrior.fct@navy.mil.