Competition to benefit Wounded Warrior Project

ROTC logo

Radford University's Ranger Club will sponsor the inaugural campus Warrior Games competition on Saturday, April 27, to benefit and raise awareness of the Wounded Warrior Project.

The Warrior Games, to begin at 10 a.m. on Muse Quad, will feature a series of team challenges, including relay races, a cornhole tournament and mechanical bull rides.

"The Radford Ranger Club created the Warrior Games competition to pay homage to the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines of the United States Armed Forces," said Capt. Chris Blanc, assistant professor of military science at RU and ROTC scholarship and enrollment officer.

Comprising members of RU's ROTC program, the Ranger Club partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project to organize the event with the aim of engaging the RU campus and Radford community to raise awareness of the needs of injured and disabled military veterans around the country.

"The purpose of the event is to raise awareness of the Wounded Warrior Project by inspiring Radford University students to give back to their nation's heroes in an exciting and rewarding way," Blanc said.

The games will feature as many as 32 five-person teams competing in nine challenging events: the wire crossing, mechanical bull, pedestal joust, tug of war, slip and slide, cornhole tournament, obstacle course, tire flip and relay race. Ranger Club members and ROTC cadets will supervise every event. The top five teams at the end of the day will receive prizes.

The purpose of the Ranger Club is to provide ROTC cadets with an opportunity to train and gain experience. In addition to the Ranger Club, the RU chapters of Theta Chi and Alpha Sigma Tau will be co-sponsors of the Warrior Games.

Theta Chi had planned to sponsor an event benefitting Wounded Warrior on its own. When the fraternity heard about the Warrior Games, Chapter President Jacob Edwards met with ROTC's Blanc.

"Captain Blanc generously offered for Theta Chi to join the project and co-host the event," Edwards said. "We never could have pulled off the outstanding undertaking that ROTC has strived for thus far. We were more than happy to throw in our support.

The sisters of Alpha Sigma Tau were also eager to help out ROTC and the Wounded Warrior Project, said Olivia Hilton, noting that philanthropy is one of the uniting factors on campus.

"One of the main reasons we go Greek is to feel a part of something bigger and to contribute our share," Hilton said. "We, as Greeks, strive to promote a better experience on Radford's campus, and that includes being instrumental in offering programs that will fulfill those philanthropic goals and needs for the students."

Warrior Games participants can register at Muse Quad on April 27 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Registration costs $20 per person for each member of each five-person team. Each participant will receive a T-shirt. For teams of more than six, the registration fee will be capped at $150, with extra T-shirts costing $5 apiece.

Learn more about Radford University at www.radford.edu.

Apr 18, 2013
Dan Waidelich
(540) 831-7749
dwaidelich@radford.edu