Hawaii's own adaptive games for Veterans — island-wide, November 5–12, 2026. Presented by the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System and supported by AMVETS / Big Tire Bootcamp, a community partner: the biggest day of the games happens on our field, where we run the Adaptive Fitness Challenge, and our coaches train the athletes all year long.
Press play and turn it up.
"Koa" is the Hawaiian word for warrior — and that's exactly who shows up. Launched in 2023 by the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System, the Koa Challenge Veteran Games bring together more than a hundred Veterans every November for a week of adaptive competition across Oahu: canoe sprints at Ke'ehi Lagoon, climbing, powerwalking, cycling, pickleball, bowling — and a full day of adaptive fitness, wheelchair slalom, archery, basketball, and horseshoes right here at the AMVETS West Oahu Veterans Center.
The games aren't just medals. The VA's recreation therapists built them to fight the real enemies — isolation and depression — by giving Veterans something to train for, and a field full of people cheering when they get there.
"What I do as a coach is to help Veterans do the best they can with what they've got."
— Coach Alim, quoted in the VA's official coverage of the 2024 games
"I get to compete again. Not watch from the side, not cheer somebody else on. Compete."
— Karl, Koa Challenge athlete
"It's the people. Same faces every year, and every year it feels more like family."
— Ipo, Koa Challenge athlete
"We don't have to fly to the mainland to compete. The games come to us, right here at home."
— Garrett Kuwada, retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant
"Adaptive fitness day is the one I circle on the calendar. Everybody's pushing, and everybody's yelling for you."
— Buster, Koa Challenge athlete
Athlete check-in is Thursday, November 5. Tuesday, November 10 is AMVETS day on our home field — red-flagged below. The games close Thursday, November 12 with the closing ceremony at the Daniel K. Akaka VA Clinic in Kapolei.
For safety, veterans competing in the Koa Challenge must have an active VA Recreation Therapy referral and a current medical clearance for their events, plus a completed Koa Challenge registration. Ask your VA primary care provider for the referral and clearance, and your recreation therapist for registration.
Exhibition events (field hockey, spear throw, horseshoes) need no Koa registration. Times and venues on this page follow the VA’s 2026 Event Guide.
November 5, 2026 · 1 session
November 6, 2026 · 2 sessions
Virtual events run Friday, Nov 6 through Sunday, Nov 8 — complete yours any time in that window.
November 8, 2026 · 1 session
November 9, 2026 · 2 sessions
November 10, 2026 · 7 sessions
Athlete check-in at 9:30 AM. Every event today is at AMVETS West Oahu Veterans Center.
Play the trivia app →koachallenge.com (opens in a new tab)November 11, 2026 · 2 sessions
November 12, 2026 · 2 sessions
Two more reasons to come out and cheer, from Big Tire Bootcamp.
Come out to the Adaptive Indoor Field Hockey exhibition and pick up a free Big Tire Bootcamp STRONG AF headband at our table.
One per person, while supplies last.
Bring a friend who wasn't already coming to the games. Your friend must be 18 or older and not a direct family member. Check in together at the Big Tire Bootcamp tent and you get a $20 gift certificate, good for merchandise or supplements at Big Tire Bootcamp and ForFathers Fitness.
Pairing up with someone who was already here doesn't count. Try it and you owe us 10 push-ups (or 10 of whatever you've got). We were born at night, but we weren't born last night.
One gift certificate per person. No cash value.
Giveaways are offered by Big Tire Bootcamp, not the VA. Veterans and active duty always train with us free, and everyone’s first week is free.
Claim your free 7-day passExhibitions are built for veterans to try a sport rather than compete in one. Not scored, not medaled, and not part of your challenge result. All levels and abilities welcome, and we bring the equipment. Sign up so we can plan coaches and gear.
An introduction to indoor field hockey: learn the basic skills, the equipment and the rules, and enjoy the teamwork and fast pace of the sport.
All levels and abilities are welcome. Coaches provide instruction and help everyone take part safely.
Runs at the same time as the Adaptive Fitness Challenge. A chance to try the event under coaching, with instruction and a safety briefing before anyone throws.
A relaxed exhibition right after the Adaptive Fitness Challenge. Pitch a few under coaching, at your own level.
None of the exhibitions is one of the ten Adaptive Fitness stations, and none affects your division or age-category placing.
The Adaptive Fitness Challenge and the exhibition events run on volunteers. Come help us give every veteran athlete a great day.
When you arrive, tell the check-in table you’re here to volunteer for Big Tire Bootcamp’s Adaptive Fitness Challenge.
No need to choose — we’ll give you your role when you arrive.
Helping with setup and logistics so the day runs smoothly.
Checking athletes in as they arrive.
Helping our coaches run the Adaptive Fitness Challenge course.
Helping run the exhibitions: adaptive indoor field hockey, spear throw and adaptive horseshoes.
Big Tire Bootcamp trains at the AMVETS West Oahu Veterans Center — the same field that hosts the busiest day of the Koa Challenge. Five of the twelve events run here, and many of the Veterans on that start line are athletes our coaches work with all year through our Adaptive Fitness program: weekly adaptive sessions, fitness assessments, assistive technology training, and one-on-one coaching.
When the games arrive, our job is simple: get every warrior to the line prepared, confident, and surrounded by their people — then cheer as loud as the families do.
The Koa Challenge is a whole week of adaptive sports for veterans, island-wide. The Adaptive Fitness Challenge is one event inside it — the one AMVETS / Big Tire Bootcamp hosts and runs on Warrior Field. Everything from here down is about that event.
Games week, the Adaptive Fitness day and the closing ceremony come from the official 2026 Koa Challenge flyer and schedule. The competition format — the ten stations, the divisions, the age categories and the awards — carries forward unchanged, and the full course is set out below. Anything not yet settled is listed as such rather than guessed at.
The full Koa Challenge runs island-wide across this week.
Pick up a packet in person, per the official 2026 flyer.
The Koa Challenge Veteran Games are a VA event.
5001 Iroquois Ave, Ewa Beach, HI 96706 — AMVETS West Oahu Veterans Center.
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM (drop-in) · all divisions, all categories. Per the 2026 Koa Challenge schedule.
Daniel K. Akaka VA Clinic, 91-1051 Franklin D. Roosevelt Ave, Kapolei, HI 96707. Medals are presented here and are not held or mailed — please attend. It's a potluck: bring a dish to share if you like.
The following are not yet published for 2026. We will add each one here as the official event plan confirms it.
The Koa Challenge Adaptive Fitness event is a structured, full-body fitness challenge built for veterans of different ages, experience levels and physical abilities. Athletes move through a ten-station adaptive fitness course on our field at the AMVETS West Oahu Veterans Center.
The course tests functional strength, cardiovascular endurance, coordination, balance, mobility and plain determination. The point is not to sort athletes against each other. It is to give every veteran a challenge that is genuinely hard for them, with clear instructions, safe movement options and adaptations approved on the day.
Big Tire Bootcamp coaches, VA Recreation Therapy staff, volunteers and community partners are on the course to explain the movements, guide athletes between stations and approve modifications where they are needed.
Ten stations, completed in order, fastest total time wins. The full station list is below.
Every athlete does the same work. The clock decides the result.
All ten stations have an approved seated, supported or modified option. Adaptive athletes complete the equivalent work using their designated modification, and referees are briefed to make sure the adapted movement mirrors the intent and intensity of the original.
Visually impaired athletes may use guides or tactile markers. Modifications are standardized and pre-approved rather than decided in the moment, so nobody is negotiating their own event on the clock.
This is the full course. You will be briefed on each station before you start, and a referee is posted at every one.
20 reps, with a SPRI ball
Adaptive option · Seated overhead press to the lap.
20 reps
Adaptive option · K is a kneeling push-up. B is a band press.
20 reps — 10 each side
Adaptive option · Weight adjusted on site.
20 reps, 20-inch plyo box
Adaptive option · Step around the side, or a lateral reach.
25 kcal
3 minute maxAdaptive option · Seated front position.
20 reps
Adaptive option · Pole strike or hand movement.
60 feet — one dumbbell in each hand
Adaptive option · Seated athletes carry one 20 lb dumbbell in their lap on a lap mat.
60 reps — 30 each side
Adaptive option · H is the heavy rope, M the medium. Single rope or hand strikes.
200 m
2 minute maxAdaptive option · Seated is allowed.
30 foot
Adaptive option · Weight adjusted on site. Rope modification available.
Athletes and referees will use this scorecard to track station completion, times, penalties, and the final course result. A printed scorecard will be provided during the event.
This is a display version prepared by Big Tire Bootcamp from the Koa Adaptive Fitness Challenge athlete tracker card. It is not a VA-issued document, and the printed scorecard handed out on event day is the one that counts.
A ten-station course built to test functional strength, cardiovascular fitness, balance, coordination, mobility and endurance — not one capacity in isolation.
Approved modifications support ambulatory, visually impaired, wheelchair and other adaptive athletes. Every movement has a version, and the version is not a lesser one.
You get movement demonstrations, the standards, and safety instructions before you start. Nobody is sent at a station they have not seen explained.
This is a you-versus-you event. The measure is your own effort and finishing safely, not the athlete in the next lane.
A guided warm-up before the challenge and a group cool-down after are part of how we run the day. Final format follows the official 2026 plan.
Big Tire Bootcamp coaches, VA Recreation Therapy staff, volunteers and community partners are on the course to guide athletes and approve modifications.
Athletes compete in one of three divisions, and each division is scored in two age categories.
Athletes who complete the course on foot, with or without approved movement modifications.
Athletes competing with low vision or blindness. Guides, verbal cueing and tactile markers are part of how the course is run.
Athletes competing from a wheelchair, using the seated and lap-loaded version of each movement.
Both categories run inside every division, so a Masters wheelchair athlete is scored against other Masters wheelchair athletes.
The standard competitive category, open to eligible athletes aged 54 and under.
Athletes aged 55 and over compete and are scored against each other, not against the Open field.
Not sure which division fits you? Ask a coach or your Recreation Therapist — division placement is settled before you get to the line, not on the course.
Participants may be required to have the following in place. The official 2026 registration packet is the authority on what is required this year.
Before beginning a new exercise or training program, veterans should consult their physician, VA medical provider, or Recreation Therapist for guidance.
On the day, medical support is on site, and coaches and referees can stop an athlete at any point if form breaks down. Stopping is not a failure — it is part of how the event is run safely.
Awards are presented for first, second and third place in the applicable competitive divisions and categories.
Placings are awarded within each division and age category, so athletes are recognized against the field they actually competed in. The awards ceremony schedule and location will be published with the official 2026 event plan.
The line-up from past games — red-flagged events ran on our field at the West Oahu Veterans Center. For 2026, see the schedule above.
The first Koa Challenge Veteran Games — VA Pacific Islands Health Care System launches Hawaii's own adaptive games for Veterans.
125 Veterans compete across 12 events island-wide, Nov 11–16. The biggest single day of the games is held on our field at the West Oahu Veterans Center.
The games return — Warrior Field again hosts adaptive fitness, archery, wheelchair slalom, basketball, and horseshoes on Nov 14.
The 4th annual Koa Challenge is official: November 5–12, 2026. Registration packets at the Spark Matsunaga Lobby & Akaka Atrium.
AMVETS day: Tuesday, Nov 10 · Adaptive Fitness 10 AM–12 PM (drop-in).
Closing ceremony: Thursday, Nov 12 · 1–3 PM · Daniel K. Akaka VA Clinic, Kapolei. Full schedule
The 4th annual games are set. Pick up registration packets at the Spark Matsunaga Lobby and the Akaka Atrium — then come train with us so you hit the start line ready.
Every Koa Challenge athlete started with one session. Veterans & active duty train free, every ability welcome, and your first week costs nothing.
