Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry Gettys | Players from opposing teams maneuver to gain control of the ball during one of the...... read more read more
BETHESDA, Md. - “Ball in the water!”
The Third Annual National Kayak Football Tournament brought a flurry of paddles, boats and cheers to Naval Support Activity Bethesda’s (NSAB) Fitness Center pool March 12.
Teams made up of Wounded Warriors, their families, active duty service members and others in the community competed in this unique sporting event, sponsored by Team River Runner.
“[Team River Runner] is a non-profit organization that offers a community program… to wounded and disabled veterans and their families, along with other veterans on the base, to have an adaptive or inclusive paddling program,” said Joe Mornini, founder and executive director of Team River Runner.
“Kayak football is a fun way to build skills and have fun and play like a kid again and compete,” said Mornini. “[It] is a combination of hockey, kayaking, and football.”
Kayak football is just one element of what the organization, which aims “to create an environment of healthy adventure, recreation and camaraderie for healing active duty, veteran service members and their families through adaptive kayaking,” as stated on its website.
The organization gives these groups an activity and something to focus on that helps heal them and gives a sense of community, said Mornini.
“They’re back doing something active again, it gets them reengaged and reconnected,” said Mornini. “They have fun, they’re getting some exercise.
They’re getting out of that dark place that their disability or their service may have caused them to be in.”
Retired Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Major can attest to this.
“Team River Runner got me in the water after I got out of the hospital and I’ve been kayaking since 2008,” said Major. “It is definitely an outlet.
“Water has powerful therapeutic powers. That got me out of the house, it got me in the water to come paddle with other lovers of the water. It really got me out of a dark place.”
Another important aspect of the program that helps veterans is just being around each other, said Mornini.
“They are able to be with other veterans, which is a very powerful part of our program, veterans with veterans,” said Mornini. “Veterans know veterans better than other people do.
“So veterans being able to do something fun like this and hang out with each other and kayak with other veterans, and then to be able to be with community members, it helps them kind of broaden their connections into the community as well.”
For combat veterans, the organization offers a way to feel an adrenaline rush they may miss and to challenge themselves, said Mornini.
“If they are a combat vet, combat vets have found our whitewater program to be an amazing opportunity to get that same adrenaline rush,” said Mornini. “Something dangerous, something in which they can get that adrenaline flowing and something that they can train to get better at.
“[They] have said that this is the first thing [they’ve] done since combat that [they were] able to get that adrenaline rush, [they were] able to get better at it and have a sense of danger. And it’s relentless. Whitewater comes at you very fast.“
Specializing in kayaking for those with injuries and physical disabilities, Team River Runner will find a way to get you in a kayak.
“We put these boats together for any kind of disability; there is not a disability that we can’t program for,” said Mornini. “So we were lucky, we found a sport that was very conducive to those with physical disabilities, deepening the skill level.”
“Technology has only increased, and we are able to help so many people get into the water.”
They don’t only offer whitewater and kayak football, however.
“We have them go out and do flat-water workouts,” said Mornini. “We train them, if they want to, to be sprint racers for the Paralympics, we do stand up paddle boarding.
They make the activities family friendly and encourage the participation of all ages.
“We have children’s boats, we want them to bring their kids and families out with us,” said Mornini. “We have an open house that veterans and their families are welcome to come up to Riley’s Lock, Md. every Sunday from May to the end of October.
“If you name a paddle sport, we do that. “
Starting 12 years ago, the organization now spreads across the nation.
“We’ve grown from this, the first chapter, and now our program has grown to over 50 chapters in 30 states,” said Mornini. “A lot of the wounded and disabled veterans, when they leave here, many of them go to a place that has an existing chapter, or they go start one so they can continue to paddle.”
If you are interested in getting in a boat or learning more, Team River Runner holds instructional kayaking for veterans in the NSAB Fitness Center pool Tuesdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and holds kayak football games Thursdays from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
You can also visit their website at teamriverrunner.org.
| Date Taken: | 03.12.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.17.2016 10:20 |
| Story ID: | 192681 |
| Location: | BETHESDA, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 155 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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