The United Spinal Association–NRA Air Rifle Championship, sponsored by the Association, the National Rifle Association, and the Castle Point VA Therapeutic Recreation Department, will be taking place at the Castle Point VA Medical Center on Thursday, March 23, 2006. It will run from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and will be held in the hospital’s 2nd floor multi-purpose room. An awards ceremony will take place at the conclusion of the tournament and Dave Baskin, Director of Disabled Shooting for the NRA, will be in attendance.

The annual Air Rifle Championship is for veterans with spinal cord injury or dysfunction. Several local veterans will be competing including: Craig Shera, Caleb Smith, Charles Brown (Castle Point); David Kleinfelter (Lebanon); Donald Plunkett (New Windsor); and John Walls (Beacon). There will also be a number of competitors from Pennsylvania and the Bronx, New York.

The championship will have three divisions: Para-freehand, Para-support stand, and Quad Support Stand.

The Association and the NRA regularly hold air rifle clinics at VA Hospitals in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The year-long Marksmanship League, developed from these clinics, allows veterans to compete against each other from various hospitals.

Air rifle is a popular sport/activity in the disabled community. Although best known for its recreational appeal, over the last several years more individuals are getting involved in air rifle competitions and clinics. Adaptive equipment such as hair-triggers and “sip and puff” devices allow persons with very limited mobility to compete or simply shoot air rifles for leisure.

United Spinal Association is dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals with spinal cord disabilities by assuring quality health care, promoting research, advocating for civil rights and independence, educating the public about these issues and enlisting its help to achieve these fundamental goals. The Association sponsors a wide variety of wheelchair recreational and adaptive sports programs, guided by the belief that the benefits from participating in sports are not any different for athletes with disabilities than for able-bodied athletes. For more information call our toll free number, 800-404-2898

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2006 at 3:22 am and is filed under Sports, United Spinal News, Veterans Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.