{"id":7770,"date":"2012-08-30T16:31:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-30T22:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=7770"},"modified":"2018-01-06T17:37:27","modified_gmt":"2018-01-07T00:37:27","slug":"uccs-faculty-student-alum-aim-high-at-paralympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=7770","title":{"rendered":"UCCS faculty, student, alum aim high at Paralympics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While it may not generate the media coverage of the Olympics, UCCS faculty, students and alumni will proudly represent Team USA at Paralympic Games taking place through Sept. 4 in London<\/p>\n<p>Craig Elder, instructor, Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and Garrett Klugh, instructor, College of Business, will work at the games while Bryce Boarman, a Colorado Springs junior majoring in sport management in the College of Business, and Asya Miller, a member of the class of 2008, will participate as athletes.<\/p>\n<p>Paralympians compete on the same courses and in the same events as Olympic athletes. Many Paralympians live at the Olympic Training Center and are world-class athletes in their own right.<\/p>\n<p>See a promotional video about Paralympics here <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=C9VWge-Q_08&amp;feature=youtu.be\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=C9VWge-Q_08<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"740\" height=\"417\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C9VWge-Q_08?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Experience and Classroom Meet<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7772\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7772\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Elder-photo1.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7772 \" title=\"Elder photo\" src=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Elder-photo1-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7772\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Craig Elder at the Paralympics in London.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For Elder, who will work as a trainer for archery, shooting and swimming teams, the opportunity to work with world-class athletes has a direct connection to his classroom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I\u2019m really able to do is to wear two hats,\u201d Elder said of his dual roles as a health sciences instructor and trainer. \u201cThis benefits my students in that I\u2019m not teaching just from the text book. They get to hear about real examples, real problems and how those issues were resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elder\u2019s thoughts were on his students as he got ready to head to London. He planned to be in London Aug. 22 through Sept. 6. The Labor Day holiday means he\u2019ll miss a week of classes while working as a trainer for three teams and in the sports medicine clinic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m confident I\u2019ll be coming back with plenty of new material,\u201d Elder said.<\/p>\n<p>Elder is emphatic about the importance of Paralympic sport and the value they bring to the world.<\/p>\n<p>By demonstrating the abilities of paraplegic athletes, Elder believes Paralympics reduces stereotypes of disabled people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am deeply appreciative of the athletes that I work with,\u201d Elder said recently. \u201cTheir personal stories are amazing as is their outlook on life. They bring a different perspective to competition, one of great spirit, ingenuity, and thanks for the opportunity to compete at this level. You can\u2019t help but be inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Birthday in London<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For Boarman, participating in Paralympics is a longtime goal. He celebrated his 22<sup>nd<\/sup> birthday Aug. 29 while in London for the games. He is a member of the U.S. men\u2019s soccer team which in international parlance is referred to as \u201cfootball 7-a-side.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While he has cerebral palsy, Boarman has played soccer since age 6 in addition to skiing, playing basketball and camping. His philosophy of \u201cimpossible is nothing\u201d helps explain his success.<\/p>\n<p>Team USA is scheduled to play Ukraine on Aug. 30.<\/p>\n<p>See an interview with Bryce upon his arrival in London at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LWkXAO2ygR0&amp;sns=em\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LWkXAO2ygR0&amp;sns=em<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"740\" height=\"417\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LWkXAO2ygR0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Gold Medal Repeat?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Asya Miller, a member of the class of 2008, is no stranger to completion or to the Paralympics. She is participating in her fourth games. Her goal ball team will face Japan Aug. 30.<\/p>\n<p>Now living in Portland, Ore., Miller earned a goal medal four years ago and a silver in 2004. The Michigan native moved to Colorado Springs to train and earned a master\u2019s degree in criminal justice from the School of Public Affairs. She holds 13 powerlifting world records, two track and field national records, and is a member of the Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame. She is legally blind.<\/p>\n<p>Goalball is a three-on-three sport exclusively for athletes who are visually impaired. The object of the sport is to roll a 30-inch circumference ball into the opponent\u2019s goal while the opposing team tries to block the ball. Bells inside the ball help the players, who wear blackout masks, learn the ball\u2019s location. Silence is required in the arena.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been to England before, but we all are just really excited to be going to the games,\u201d Miller told a reporter from the Flint (Mich.) Journal. \u201cWe\u2019ll have a chance to do some other things there after the competition. We already have Harry Potter Museum tickets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related links<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Paralympics web site <a href=\"http:\/\/www2.teamusa.org\/US-Paralympics.aspx\">http:\/\/www2.teamusa.org\/US-Paralympics.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Matt Stutzman, a member of Team USA Archery, and who works with Craig Elder <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vdKYG1099ug\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vdKYG1099ug<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"740\" height=\"417\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vdKYG1099ug?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>While it may not generate the media coverage of the Olympics, UCCS faculty, students and alumni will proudly represent Team USA at Paralympic Games taking place through Sept. 4 in London Craig Elder, instructor, Beth-El <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=7770\" title=\"UCCS faculty, student, alum aim high at Paralympics\">(More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,22],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-7770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-video","tag-college-of-public-service"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/01.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-21k","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7770"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29157,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7770\/revisions\/29157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}