Each summer, Fort Hood's Child, Youth and School Services holds a summer camp. This year they have 257 kids enrolled.
One hundred and sixty of those kids, the younger ones, had the chance to attend and participate in the 7th annual Youth Sports and Fitness Paralympics Day.
"You can do anything." - Jack Boal
That was the message of events held at Fort Hood's Youth Sports and Fitness Paralympics day.
"We just want to make sure that they know that they can still participate in sports as they grow and get experience, that they aren't excluded just because they have a disability," Vickie Jackson, the Director of Fort Hood's Youth Sports and Fitness program, said.
"It's fulfilling. I can feel it in my heart that it's a good thing for them," Jack Boal, a wheelchair basketball athlete, said.
Boal served in the U.S. Army for 21 years. When he retired, he still had his legs. But, in 2008, he got sick with MRSA and had to have them amputated.
Now, he plays wheelchair basketball for the Harker Heights Hustlers.
"Doing sports, it's like an outlet. It sort of relieves yourself, makes you feel good about yourself," Boal added.
It's something he hopes the Fort Hood summer camp kids take away from watching him and his teammates.
"You can't limit yourself. You just have to keep on moving on and adapt to the situation," Boal said.
Which is a lesson he's learned and hopes others will learn, too.
"We come up with different experiences for them to see during the summer, things that they might not experience other than just a regular basketball or baseball, football, whatever... and we want them to see it is an overall program for everybody," Jackson added.
The Child Youth and School Services also invited Fort Hood's Exceptional Family Member Program and the Resiliency Campus Program to the day's event to provide information to Fort Hood families.
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