The amount of resources dedicated to adaptive sports in this country is higher than ever. The number of participants keeps increasing. The quality of coaching is unmatched.

All the pieces are in place for U.S. Paralympics to experience a long-awaited resurgence, and the Colorado Springs-based organization thinks it’s attainable through an expansion of its pipeline to include recently disabled military from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Paralympics could have a possible feeder system in the Warrior Games, a free event that’s open to the public featuring 200-plus wounded, injured and ill service members and veterans competing in seven sports through Saturday at Air Force. Paralympians aren’t a part of the Warrior Games to preserve the competition’s integrity, but some athletes here, like Navy swimmer Brad Snyder, could make the Paralympics this summer in London.

Snyder swam in college at Navy, and after a roadside bomb in September required his left eye to be removed and eliminated the functionality from his right eye, he qualified for the national team. It’s the type of quick growth desired by U.S. Paralympics, especially with more than 40,000 wounded military having come home from the Middle East – creating the chance that as many as 15 percent of Americans dressing in London will be veterans.

“In order for us to be competitive, we need to build the pipeline,” U.S. Paralympics chief Charlie Huebner said, conceding that “everybody that we get into the pipeline obviously isn’t going to go to the Paralympic Games.” Still, Huebner said, “The more people we get in the pipeline, the greater opportunity we’ll have to develop competitive teams.”

Of the 50 Americans at the last Paralympics, in 2010 in Vancouver, just five had military ties. Only one, biathlete Andy Soule, reached the podium as the U.S. finished sixth in the gold-medal race and fifth in the total-medal count, trumped by Germany and Russia. Roughly 8 percent of Americans in 2008 in Beijing were veterans when the U.S. took third behind China and Great Britain. The U.S. last won the most golds and medals in 1996.

Huebner admits the U.S. remains “playing catch-up,” although there are plenty of reasons for optimism. For the first time, the U.S. has full-time coaches in cycling, swimming and track and field – sports that account for 73 percent of the medals in London. The U.S. has qualified 79 of 80 positions in track and field, and the Americans have the largest cycling team, with more than a dozen qualifiers. Plus, their depth in the pool hasn’t dropped off.

Most of the talent is coming from 185-plus Paralympic sport clubs nationwide, including one in the Springs, and via the Paralympic Military Program headed by the U.S. Olympic Committee, which announced Thursday that Warrior Games backer Deloitte extended its sponsorship of the initiative through 2020. With limited resources, U.S. Paralympics also works with the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs.

“We’re seeing significant progress,” Huebner said. “Converting it to the podium is key.”

In both urban and rural communities, Huebner is spreading this message to veterans: “Do you want to play basketball? Do you want to ski? Do you want to play sitting volleyball? We can help you.” Simply put, “Our movement exists because of veterans,” he said.

WARRIOR GAMES SCHEDULE

FRIDAY

Track and field, outdoor track at Air Force, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wheelchair basketball bronze-medal game, Cadet Field House at Air Force, 3-5 p.m.

Sitting volleyball gold-medal match, Cadet Field House, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Wheelchair basketball gold-medal game, Cadet Field House, 8:30-10:30 p.m.

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.

Photo by

Special Operations archer Anthony Radetic (left) competes Wednesday during the Warrior Games. The seven-sport event for 200-plus wounded, injured and ill service members and veterans is free and open to the public, and it runs through Saturday at Air Force. Photo by JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE