{"id":8123,"date":"2024-08-31T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8123"},"modified":"2024-08-31T18:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T18:30:00","slug":"navy-veteran-participates-in-veterans-golden-age-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8123","title":{"rendered":"Navy Veteran participates in Veterans Golden Age Games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2024-08-31T18:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix resident and Navy Veteran Mike Smith is excited about competing with fellow Veterans at the 38th National Veterans Golden Age Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/veteran-sports\/national-veterans-golden-age-games\/\" rel=\"noopener\">National Veterans Golden Age Games<\/a> offers Veterans ages 55 and older a chance to compete in sports and learn new skills through exhibitions. Through its \u201cFitness for Life\u201d motto, it demonstrates the value that sports, wellness and fitness provides\u2014as well as encourages\u2014older Veterans to stay active. \u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rather long list of sports he plays<\/h2>\n<p>Smith exemplifies this motto every day. He plays and participates in archery, sled hockey, wheelchair football, wheelchair softball, pickleball, wheelchair pickleball, wheelchair tennis, air rifle and wheelchair basketball.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/08\/Mike-Smith_r1.jpg\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>He also trains daily and encourages peers to train as well. He coaches youth athletes and Veterans. He encourages everyone to try each sport and then helps them develop a training regimen. Smith coaches youth in archery with Arizona Disabled Sports, a local non-profit organization, and participates with Ability360\u2019s wheelchair sports teams. He also attends bi-weekly practices with Coyotes Sled Hockey.<\/p>\n<p>Smith, who was involved in a in helicopter crash and lost the lower part of his left leg, came to compete in the games by playing adaptive sports with the Phoenix VA Adaptive Sports and Arts program.<\/p>\n<p>Participating this year for a second time, it allows him to communicate with other Veterans and relive the brotherhood and sisterhood of his military days. \u201cThis rehabilitation sports event inspires me because it has kept me motivated, allows me to continue to do the things I love and when I\u2019m stressed, and it gives me an outlet to get away,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n<p>Smith plans to compete in pickleball doubles, pickleball coed doubles, badminton, badminton doubles, archery, golf and air rifle. The Golden Age Games are held annually and is a qualifying event for the National Senior Games.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/134341\/navy-veteran-participates-in-golden-age-games\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Navy Veteran Mike Smith is excited about competing with fellow Veterans during the 38th National Veterans Golden Age Games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Navy Veteran participates in Veterans Golden Age Games - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Navy Veteran Mike Smith is excited about competing with fellow Veterans during the 38th National Veterans Golden Age Games.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8123\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Navy Veteran participates in Veterans Golden Age Games - 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