Sports were always a big part of Christopher Nowak’s life, and when the Marine infantry squad leader lost his right leg 25 years ago, he didn’t know where to turn. He desperately wanted to try adaptive sports, but there were no avenues to find somewhere to play.

“I saw disabled veterans just give up because we didn’t have the infrastructure,” he said.

Now, wounded military coming home from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have almost unlimited options to get involved in sports through a new pact between U.S. Paralympics and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that’s had an impact at the community level.

The past two years, the VA has awarded $15 million to the Colorado Springs-based U.S. Olympic Committee to help fund more than 185 Paralympic sport clubs, including one in the Springs, through the USOC-run Paralympic Military Program. Some members of the Paralympic sport clubs are here for the Warrior Games, a seven-sport event with 200-plus wounded, injured and ill service members and veterans that ends Saturday at Air Force.

In the Springs, the Paralympic sport club is operated via the city’s therapeutic recreation program – the goal of U.S. Paralympics is to have 250 clubs nationwide by the end of the year. At www.usparalympics.org, people with disabilities can search for programs in their area, with choices from 21 Summer Paralympic sports like wheelchair basketball, five Winter Paralympic sports like sled hockey and 12 non-Paralympic sports like power soccer.

Nowak said opportunities for veterans are “light years” ahead of where they were in 1987 – the year Nowak, 47, had his leg amputated after enduring friendly fire during a routine training exercise. The Internet wasn’t mainstream back then, and with Nowak relying on word of mouth, he struggled to locate adaptive sports, so he took on standing ice hockey.

“It was a big learning curve,” said Nowak, the national director of the Office of National Veterans Sports Programs & Special Events for the VA. “If I would have had an adaptive sports program, it would have eliminated that learning curve and a lot of frustration.”

In March, U.S. Paralympics paid 83 veteran athletes – 91 athletes were eligible to receive stipends – with money from a monthly VA training fund. Supporting the Warrior Games is logical for the VA, “so the veteran then can continue using the skills they learned here, living a productive and active life,” Nowak said, emphasizing that “we can teach them the basics, then they can go back and participate in the community with their families.”

In the challenging search for a return to normalcy, Nowak insists playing sports should be a no-brainer for veterans. “It allows you to be able to focus on something other than your injury,” Nowak said. “Be able to focus on what you can do versus what you can’t do.”

WARRIOR GAMES SCHEDULE

SATURDAY

Swimming, natatorium at Air Force, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Contact Brian Gomez: 719-636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazettedev.gazette.com. Facebook: Brian Gomez. Twitter: @gazetteskysox. Google+: Brian Gomez.