It’s long been said that the benefit of sport lies far more in the off-field life lessons than the skill specific end product that is displayed in the heat of competition.

Multiply that ten-fold, and you begin to get a sense of the perspective of the Warrior Games to the combatants who take part.

The precursor to the more highly publicized Invictus Games, the original multi-sport event for wounded, injured or ill service personnel or veterans was first launched in 2010 in Colorado Springs, with the latest staging taking place this past June in Tampa Bay.

With athletes from Australia, Britain, Denmark, Canada, Holland and the United States on hand, Sudbury would be proudly represented in the form of retired corporal Natalie Champagne and retired captain Jennifer Sizer.

Understandably, those who have served in the armed forces are thankful for both of these celebrated multi-sport gatherings, and the important role they can play in personal rehabilitation.

“Both formats encourage healthy living and a return to health for any members, active or retired, who have gone through mental or physical injuries during their time in service,” noted Sizer, now 38 years old and living in Victoria (B.C.).

A graduate of Cambrian College and member of their varsity women’s soccer team, Sizer had spent five years with the Second Battalion, Irish Regiment of Canada prior to being deployed to Bosnia in 2003. An ultra-active young woman dating back to her time at St Charles College and before, she has endured two fairly significant hip surgeries, though Sizer would contend that the challenges run so much deeper than the obvious physical ailments.

“For myself and many others that I have spoken with, when you have such a significant injury, particularly in the military, there is such a big loss of identity,” she noted. “For starters, you’re no longer Jen the soccer player or Jen the kick boxer, or whatever sport I was doing that year. You lose your social support, your network of friends, through no fault of theirs.”

“And in the military, being physically active is such an integral part of your job. There are parameters within the Canadian Forces, different standards of physical fitness, and once you can’t meet that any more, they look at medically releasing you. That’s a double loss of identity.”

“You’re no longer the soldier, you’re no longer the athlete, and those two things took up a big part of my life, and a lot of my friends’ lives as well,” Sizer stated.

Thankfully, the issue has garnered ever increasing attention over the years, beyond simply the afore-mentioned Games. “I’m very lucky that I have a really good case manager through Veterans Affairs Canada, and a really good coaching team here in Victoria,” said Sizer.

Now roughly three years into a comprehensive program that focuses on functional movement, “your abilities versus your constraints”, as Sizer terms it, the eldest of two children from the Garson-based family has welcomed sport back into her life in a big way.

Cycling, surprisingly enough, is not only a recreational option, but one in which Sizer competes with the masses, taking to the roads for the 100 km Tour de Victoria earlier this month. And it turns out that power-lifting makes for a great fit as well. In fact, such is the diversity of interests for the former reservist with the Royal Canadian Dragoon Battle Group that Sizer was selected to compete in the “Ultimate Warrior” classification in Tampa, a de facto heptathlon, of sorts.

“I competed in eight sports: sprinting, cycling, swimming, rowing, archery, shooting, bench press and shot put,” noted Sizer. “In a matter of ten weeks or so, there were about three to four specific skills that I had to pick up pretty quickly.”

While excellence might be the end goal, it is very much the thrill of competition that is viewed as a key component of the treatment the soldiers receive in addessing the healing process. “Athletically speaking, there is definitely some high level competition, regardless of adaptability,” said Sizer. “Everybody was there to achieve their best.”

“Within that, there is a certain intensity to the experience, because it’s not just about the physical competition, but about making it through the process of actually getting to the Games. For myself and many others, there is mental health work to be done, and a lot of physical work to compete in the manner that you want to.”

And compete she did, capturing a bronze medal in power-lifting and placing 5th out of the 12 female athletes who undertook the challenge of the Ultimate Warrior heptathlon. “It was a good showing, I was quite happy,” said Sizer.

The positivity of the process was clearly taking root. “Being a lifelong athlete, suddenly there were very few sports that I could compete in,” admitted Sizer. “It was a struggle to see how my body could continue to do sports in a way that was different from what it was used to, previously.”

“You want to be able to perform the way you did before, but you have to keep these things in your mind to make sure that you remain healthy.” Having been warned of a possible “post-Games crash”, Sizer made sure that her road to recovery continued, coupling a power-lifting meet last weekend with her cycling expedition one week earlier.

She continues to test her boundaries.

“When you apply to Warrior Games or Invictus, you’re not limited to sports that you have experience in,” she explained. “It was wheelchair basketball for me. I had not been on the court since 2012. To get back on the court and play basketball from a completely different perspective was a really interesting experience.”

“For me, the Warrior Games definitely accomplished what they were supposed to do.”

And that, quite frankly, is the entire idea behind the Games.