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David Stanley Ford

Endeavor games notebook: Games more successful with age

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Published: June 14, 2009

Games more successful with age
The 2009 UCO Endeavor Games is celebrating its 10th anniversary and its numbers continue to grow, with nearly 300 participants this weekend in Edmond.

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Games more successful with age
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Leigha Joiner, the event coordinator, said the success of the event is because they have remained loyal to its original motto from 2000.

"I think this event has always offered an atmosphere that is fun and camaraderie,” she said. "We try to keep it light-hearted while also being competitive, and our ability to maintain that makes us unique.”

Joiner said the variance in age is also a strong indicator of interest in athletic competition. This year’s group ranges from age 4 to age 67.

"We are open to everybody,” she said. "You are never too young or too old to have fun, so we invite everyone who wants to be a part of it to come on out.”

Army strong
The Endeavor Games is in its fifth year in association with the U.S. Military and U.S. Paralympics program to assist in rehabilition of injured military members.

The number of military participants in the games grew from 23 in 2008 to more than 70 this year.

Shane Parsons from the Army and Kisha Makerney from the National Guard participated in the inaugural sitting volleyball tournament at the UCO Wellness Center on Saturday in their first trip to the games.

Parsons, from Fostoria, Ohio, lost both of his legs in a remote mine explosion in Iraq in September 2006.

Makerney, a Broken Bow native, lost her leg in 2005 in a motorcycle accident, less than a month after returning from Iraq.

They said the Endeavor Games partnership has given them the opportunity to show people they are still competitors and athletes.

"It gives us a chance to show ourselves,” Parsons said. "I never thought in a million years I would be playing sit volleyball with paralympians, but it’s great. It shows our spirit. We are fighting and giving it all we can.”

BY RYAN STEWART

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David Stanley Ford



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