Champions Made From Adversity

Scott Winker presented with Globetrotter’s Ambassador’s Award

Jeff Snover — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:10:00 +0000

Our own Scott Winkler was awarded the Harlem Globetrotter’s Ambassador’s award on March 8th! Moo Moo Evans presented Scott with the award at the Fort Gordon Athletic Complex. Congratulations Scott!

Warrior Champions Movie Premieres in Augusta!

CMFA Administrator — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:00:41 +0000

Warrior Champions tells the emotional and inspiring story of a group of severely wounded American Soldiers as they fight to turn nightmares of war into Olympic dreams. Iraq War Veterans Kortney Clemons, Scott Winkler, Melissa Stockwell, and Carlos Leon as little as a year after losing limbs and suffering paralysis fighting for their country in Iraq, have set out to do what many thought impossible; to compete in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Through failure, pain and triumph Warrior Champions follows these solider athletes for a full year as they compete for their spot on the US Paralympic team. The film goes inside the famous Ward 57 of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Melissa and Scott mentor recently wounded soldiers who are battling depression. ‘I was in your shoes not too long ago.’ Melissa tells Juan, who lost both of his legs in Iraq. ‘But I’m telling you, I’ve done more in life with one leg than I ever would have done with two.’ Doctors at Walter Reed say they never would have dreamed that a wounded soldier could make it to the Paralympics so quickly after sustaining traumatic war injuries, and these athletes give the patients the hope many thought they had lost forever. Though at times heart wrenching, Warrior Champions is not a sad tale of the tragedy of war, but rather an uplifting testament to the human spirit that challenges every notion of what it means to be disabled. Go to www.warriorchampions.com for more details. 3/10/2010

Footage from NBA TV about one of our FT Gordon programs with the Warrior Transition Battalion

Jeff Snover — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:26:52 +0000

Augusta Bulldogs Wheelchair Basketball Team is “Team of the Week”

Nancy Palmer — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:44:32 +0000

CMFA Competes in Augusta Ironman 70.3

Nancy Palmer — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:09:03 +0000

Early on Sunday morning, September 27th 3, 400 athletes began the first Ironman triathlon hosted in Augusta. CMFA had 5 teams of 3 athletes each that competed in the Ironman as relay teams. The teams were composed of 8 disabled athletes and 7 able-bodied volunteers. Six of our athletes are veterans and we had an athlete from Augusta VAMC Active Duty Rehab Unit.

Our volunteer athletes came from the Classic City Tri Club of Athens, Ga and from some local recruiting by the Greater Augusta Sports Council. CMFA was joined by the C Different Foundation’s Operation Refocus and the Getting 2 Tri Foundation of Atlanta in a group effort to field disabled athletes and bring adaptive athletics to this Ironman. We’d like to give great big thank yous to the Classic City Tri Club, The Greater Augusta Sports Council, Mike Lenhart and the volunteers of the Getting to Tri Foundation, Rich Hunter of the C Different Foundation, the PEM staff, the US Paralympic Military Program, and everyone else who made this totally awesome thing happen!

Click here to view photos from this event.

Bulldogs Wheelchair Basketball home opener a blow out!!!

Jeff Snover — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:40:00 +0000

Saturday September 19th saw the Bulldogs take on the Spartanburg Pistons at Garrett Gym. The Bulldogs back to basics practices have really improved how the team approaches the game now. The first game started slow as the Dogs took a few minutes to shake off the jitters. The team had several bad passes which lead to turnovers early on. Once the team settled in the pick and roll and fast break developed.

We had around 70 spectators and we hope we can energize more folks to come out to watch these guys play their hearts out.

We will have the concession stand open next home game on Janurary 23rd with the good ole chocolate chip cookies and nachos!!!

Game one recap

Augusta 56 Spartanburg 39

Chris Bryant 4 poits, Jason Rainey 6 points, Scott Winkler 10 points, Joey Nye 18 points, Darren Jackson 12 points, Joey Bennett 4 points, and Mike Sims 2 points. All players enjoyed some playing time during the game.

Game two recap

Augusta 51 Spartanburg 31

Chris Bryant 10 points, Scott Winkler 2 points, Joey Nye 18 points, Darren Jackson 19 points, Joey Bennett 2 points. Again all players got some playing time and even John Paul Richardson saw some actin on exception agreed to with the Pistons.

War Champions Trailer

Jeff Snover — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:04:40 +0000

Ebay items for sale, all to support CMFA!

CMFA Administrator — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:35:31 +0000

Click here to visit the Orioles Trading Post, an eBay store specializing in sports and novelty trading cards! Find stars like Joe Montana, Barry Sanders, Jerry Rice, Brett Favre and much, much more! All items from the link above are being offered to suport CMFA and its mission to advance the lives of physically disabled and their families.

A special thanks to Jim Nelson for helping out CMFA with the sale of these items.

Soldiers, veterans help disabled have fun

CMFA Administrator — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:08:28 +0000

Retired Chief Warrant Officer Jeffrey Snover met retired Spc. Scott Winkler at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in 2004 while the pair underwent physical therapy for injuries that left them both wheelchair bound. Now both medically retired, the two joined together and started “Champions Made From Adversity,” a local non-profit with the mission of “advancing the lives of physically disabled persons and their Families through sport and leisure activities.”

CMFA’s objectives are to provide opportunities for the disabled that are similar to the activities of the nondisabled such as individual and team sports, and mentoring programs. They teach life skills through sport and leisure activities so that participants strive to increase their level of independence, earn the respect of the community, and increase leadership skills so they are seen in a positive light. The organization currently provides sports clinics, camps, competitions, and ongoing activities targeting the more than 60,000 physically disabled in the Central Savannah River Area. [read more]

Article written by Capt. Michael Lind
Published July 3, 2009 in The Signal
Click here to read the full article

Augustan blazing trail as an adaptive athlete

CMFA Administrator — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:33:28 +0000

Alan Washington’s life changed on Oct. 27, 1987.

A large crate fell on his back as he was working on a Navy cargo ship in San Diego, and it broke his 10th and 11th vertebra. The accident left the Augusta man paralyzed from the waist down.

What took away the use of his legs, however, could not take away his spirit.

Washington, now 42, has become heavily involved in adaptive athletics, mainly basketball and tennis, over the past several years.

He is a member of the Augusta Blazing Bulldogs wheelchair basketball team, which competed in the National Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Denver in March.

His most memorable moment from the trip, he said, didn’t come on the basketball court, but from another sport he hadn’t enjoyed in 22 years. [read more]

Article written by Joey Jones
Published July 2, 2009 in the The Augusta Chronicle
Click here to read the full article