Disabled Shooting Services Manager Vanessa Warner brings us the following from the state of New York:

The Sitrin Medical Rehabilitation Center was created in 1951, when Hymen Sitrin, his wife Clara, and his sister-in-law Florence purchased a stone house on a quiet wooded hillside. There they established a home for the elderly and infirmed. [The center was] named in honor of Charles T. Sitrin (Hymen's brother and Florence's husband) who had passed away at an early age.

Today Sitrin Health Care is one of the nation's most innovative regional providers of health and rehabilitative services. Located in New Hartford, NY, a small community in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, Sitrin provides a remarkable range of services, including long-term care, medical rehabilitation (inpatient and outpatient), independent living residences, assisted living, special needs residences, adult day health care, adaptive sports, child care, wellness services and summer day camp.

In 2001 Sitrin implemented STARS (Success Through Adaptive Recreation and Sports) program, offering individuals with disabilities the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of sports, including wheelchair road racing, wheelchair curling, wheelchair basketball, adaptive golf, mono-skiing, and adaptive paddling. Thanks to the dedication of Director of Occupational Therapy Marc DePerno, Sitrin will now include air rifle shooting in their adaptive sports program.

In addition to serving as the Director of Occupational Therapy, Marc is also the Director of the STARS program and the Manager of the US Wheelchair Curling Team. The team has competed around the world and under Marc’s tutelage – they have become a force to be reckoned with.

Marc arranged for a number of curling team members to participate in the shooting clinic. Curling and shooting Paralympics occur on opposing years, making it possible for curling members to be part of the Paralympic shooting team too – a thought that is very exciting to these men and women.

As with all clinics we began with the safety rules:

ALWAYS KEEP THE GUN POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION.
ALWAYS KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL READY TO SHOOT.
ALWAYS KEEP THE GUN UNLOADED UNTIL READY TO USE.

After the safety briefing, we reviewed the equipment, the anatomy of an air rifle, and the different types of pellets. From there we progressed to adaptive shooting positions and execution of the perfect shot. Then I moved behind the firing line to help the class find their natural point of aim. For some this was easy, but for others it took a lot of work.

Once the natural point of aim was achieved, I had the class shooting and working to make minor adjustments with their sights. I am always amazed at the skill level of the people in thees clinics. One shooter, Tammy, quickly showed her natural ability to shoot and soon established herself as one to watch in competition. Another, Jimmy, promptly rose to the challenge. The two took things so far as to have me score their practice targets to see who would have come out on top! It was Jimmy by three points but I think that Tammy was headed out to by an air rifle!

While Tammy and Jimmy where holding their impromptu competition, I worked with Lou. He has both upper body weakness and atrophy making lifting a rifle nearly impossible. Because he was only able to control the gun with his right hand, he had trouble keeping the gun in his shoulder. I found a piece of clothesline that I fastened to the gun and then to the headrest to provide the additional support that was needed. Before long Lou was showing his prowess with the air gun as well.

The event was a huge success and I definitely saw a number of the participants making serious runs for the 2012 Paralympic team. I wish them all the best and look forward to working with them in the near future.