I AM Team UK - 2017 Invictus Games Series #4

jasonbu (61)in #sports • 7 years ago

My next introduction is to Team UK. I would like to thank all of you who are following this series as we lead up to the 2017 Games in September.

Team UK 2017 - image from Help For Heroes

Source: Help for Heroes

On May 30th Prince Harry, the Patron of the Invictus Games, met with the UK team during their official release photo shoot as they prepare to depart for the 2017 games in Toronto, Canada.

Prince Harry meets with the Team

Princ Harry gave a short speech in which he told the competitors "It's not about medals it's about taking part. Every single one of you are ambassadors for the Invictus Games. You guys have made an incredible journey to this point. "

More hopefuls than ever before, 306 WIS military personnel and veterans, trialled 11 sports for one of the 90 places available on the UK team. The rigorous selection process was based on the benefit the Invictus Games will give an individual as part of their recovery, combined with performance and commitment to training.
Source: Help for Heroes

The 2017 UK Team Captain, former Army Major Bernie Broad. Bernie lost both his legs below the knee due to injuries sustained in an explosion in Helmand Province in 2009. He underwent four years of extensive surgery and rehabilitation followed by two years of assistance from the Personnel Recovery Unit at Chetwynd Barracks in Chilwell.

On being chosen as UK Team Captain, he added: “The Invictus Games are empowering and inspire all of us as competitors to be the best version of ourselves. It allows us to be judged on what we can achieve, rather than what we can’t. To simply be selected for the UK Team was an amazing achievement. To then be further selected as the UK Team Captain filled me with such immense pride and it is a huge privilege to be given this honour. I definitely stood taller and my chest expanded quite a bit!”
Source: Help for Heroes

Former Maj Bernie Broad retired from the Grenadier Guards in 2014 after 32 years of service.

Team UK Highlights

This year the team will compete in 11 sports including the newly introduced sport for 2017, Golf.

There is approximately 200,000 active personnel in the British military with around 180,000 reservists. The UK has the second largest military in the EU and has played key roles in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lybia.