CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- For 316 warriors from around the globe, participating in an Olympic-style competition may have once been just a dream. But as the participants stood, representing their countries during the opening ceremony of the 2013 Marine Corps Trials on Feb. 28, many of those national and international Marines may have realized their dreams were beginning to come true.
Over the next six days, those athletes will have a chance to compete in eight different sports: archery, shooting, swimming, cycling, track, field, wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball.
The Marine Corps Trials are open to all ill or injured Marines who are part of the Wounded Warrior Regiment.
The athletes competing will represent one of four teams; East, West, Veterans and Allies. The 50 highest-placing athletes will be selected to compete on the All-Marine team at the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo. May 11 -17.
The All-Marine team will consist of active duty, reserve, veteran and international Marines. They will go head-to-head against the other branches of the armed forces to defend their first place title and try to once again take home the Chairman’s Cup.
“Our Marines have won the Chairman’s Cup at the Warrior Games for the past three years. That has been possible because of the encouragement and support of our Marine Corps family,” said Col. Willard A. Buhl, commanding officer of the Wounded Warrior Regiment, about Marines in past competitions. “The Marine Corps’ greatest assets are our Marines.”
Helping disabled, ill and injured Marines find life again is a noble effort, said Jenny Sullivan, the officer in charge of the Marine Corps Trials.
“Together, we are making it possible for Marines, to reconnect with their bodies, their minds and their best selves,” said Sullivan.
