Traditional therapy doesn’t often include basketball or badminton. But for several veterans at the Phoenix VA medical center, meeting twice a week at Arizona State University to shoot hoops and hit shuttlecocks has helped them feel better physically and mentally.
Faculty members at ASU’s School of Community Resources and Development collaborated with the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Administration Medical Center to bring the students from the school and veterans together.
Chris Herbst says that running 55 miles at a time can be so brutal that he enters a state he calls “the pain cave.”
Herbst, a faculty member at Arizona State University, is an ultramarathon runner, competing in races that are twice as long as a typical marathon.
But beyond the discomfort, he finds incredible beauty and peace of mind while pounding the trails for hours at a time.
They may have been delayed a year, but Arizona State University is ready to go for gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which open July 23.
There are 20 Sun Devil athletes competing in Tokyo, representing 14 countries in six sports. Three Olympians — Jorinde van Klinken, Leon Marchand and Jarod Arroyo — are current students.
Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic led Jason Faircloth, founder of the United States Disabled Golf Association, to cancel the association's annual national golf tournament, which was scheduled to be held in Mesa. This year, a severe lack of volunteers and sponsors – the lifeblood of a golf tournament – led the tournament’s founder to think seriously about shelving the 2021 event as well.
Life after college looks different for every student athlete. Some may move on to the pros. Others will put their sports-playing days behind them as they graduate into unrelated careers.
But some student athletes competing in intercollegiate sports at Arizona State University are putting their athletic capabilities to work in closely related fields taught in programs offered by the School of Community Resources and Development.