DVIDS – News – JBSA Adaptive Sports Camp challenges recovering Soldiers

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, Dec. 4, 2025 – Soldiers from the Joint Base San Antonio Soldier Recovery Unit competed within the JBSA Adaptive Sports Camp Nov. 12-21, 2025.

More than 35 Soldiers put their expertise to the take a look at in each workforce and particular person sports activities together with wheelchair basketball, pickle ball, wheelchair rugby, sitting volleyball, observe and discipline, rowing, biking, swimming, powerlifting, air rifle, and archery.

During the Nov. 21 closing ceremony, Army Lt. Col. Anthony Morrow, SRU commander, praised the adaptive reconditioning workforce and the Soldiers for his or her efforts.

“Adaptive sports teaches us that when you get knocked off your feet, you take a deep breath, square up your shoulders like a good Soldier, just get back up,” Morrow mentioned. “At the SRU, we talk a lot about recovery, and we talk a lot about progress. It’s not always the progress of earning rank or earning medals. It’s the progress that’s made by doing the work over hard days, days where just showing up might feel like an act of survival.”

“You guys have showed up, done the adaptive reconditioning, you’ve taken on every challenge, sometimes bruised, sometimes tired, but always moving forward, with grit and with strength,” he added. “As you take the lessons from this last week with you, I challenge you to hold two things close. Recovery is growth, and growth is uncomfortable. Your recovery is what defines you as a Soldier. Adapt and overcome, and above all else, get back up.”

Dr. Jamie Velez, adaptive sports activities program supervisor, acknowledged the adaptive reconditioning workforce and praised the athletes for his or her willpower.

“Warrior athletes, you should all be proud of what you’ve achieved,” Velez mentioned. “Thank you for making this our best adaptive sports camp.”

“The competition, the amount of camaraderie that we saw throughout the week, and the true desire to be here has just made this great for myself and my team,” she mentioned. “We cannot thank you all enough.”
During the closing ceremony a number of awards have been offered.

Army Cpl. Delas Bush obtained the Warrior Spirit Award for his demonstration of nice confidence, bodily toughness, aggressiveness, and dedication to teammates.

Bush mentioned he loved the camaraderie in addition to the competitors.

“Wheelchair rugby was my favorite,” Bush mentioned. “We dominated, and we won 24-20.”

Army Spc. Adrian Saenz has been within the SRU for just a little over a 12 months and this was the primary time he participated within the adaptive sports activities camp.
“For me, being an amputee, I got introduced to a whole other world of sports that I didn’t even know existed,” Saenz mentioned. “It’s given me an opportunity to still participate in sports. It makes me feel good, because at one point I was pretty down because I can’t perform the way I used to, but with these sports the competition is there. So, it’s pretty awesome.”

Saenz obtained the Iron Phoenix Resiliency Award for his excellent efficiency and demonstrated the best resilience all through the adaptive sports activities camp.

Army Master Sgt. Aaron Frederick was injured in a parachute accident.

“I landed on my left butt cheek and blew my pelvis open and broke my back,” he defined. “I have quite a bit of hardware in my pelvis, and I had back surgery to fuse my L5S1 together in January. That kind of created a little bit more problems for me.”

Because of his accidents, Frederick wasn’t in a position to compete in a few of the occasions, however he did as many as he may.
He mentioned he loved the wheelchair basketball most. “It’s a little less pressure on an individual, and so I’m able to hone in my teammates’ skills. When you’re in an individual sport, it’s a lot harder to compete and be good.”
Frederick obtained the Most Outstanding Performer Award for demonstrating distinctive talent, perseverance, and sportsmanship, considerably contributing to the success of the occasion.

“His (Frederick’s) exemplary performance reflects great credit upon himself and the spirit of competition,” mentioned Velez.

Now that the adaptive sports activities camp is completed, Velez, the adaptive reconditioning workforce and SRU leaders will decide which Soldiers will transfer on to compete within the Army Trials, Feb. 25 – March 6, 2026, at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Lorraine Currow has been a leisure therapist for 3 years, and she or he has been concerned in teaching adaptive sports activities for greater than six years.

“I think a lot of these Soldiers are having a challenge when it comes to finding the end result for recovery,” she mentioned. “I always tell them that recovery doesn’t have an end point.

It doesn’t have a deadline. Sports allows them to get out of their own head when it comes to challenging themselves again. I think sports actually gives them an opportunity to get vulnerable again, become humbled, learn something new, and find that joy in that process of recovery.”