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Shooting team qualifier, student aims at funding travel to Paralympics
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_5205127,00.html
All fired up
By JIM BALLOCH, [email protected]
December 11, 2006
JOHNSON CITY - A farming accident broke Eric Hollen's back.
http://mas.scripps.com/KNS/2006/12/10/1211shooter2_f.jpg
But it did not break his will. Or his spirit.
Eric Hollen, a 41-year-old ETSU student, does controlled breathing as he lowers his pistol to a shooting position during practice at an indoor gun range at the school. He has qualified to be a member of the Paralympics shooting team in Beijing in 2008 and is trying to qualify for official travel funding.
And it did not hamper his dead-eye aim.
With a determination as strong as the metal of his wheelchair, the East Tennessee State University student and former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier has that aim set firmly on two goals, one of which he has achieved partially.
Short-term goal: Represent his country at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing as a member of the Paralympics shooting team.
Paralympics are athletic competitions between athletes with physical disabilities. They take place every four years, in conjunction with the Olympic Games.
In a recent competition in Colorado, he received a score good enough to qualify for the team but not for official travel funding from the Paralympics organization. He hopes to shoot in several matches between now and 2008 to qualify for funding as well as continue to improve his shooting.
Hollen's long-term goal: become a psychologist, to help other people deal with the emotional and psychological fallout from a life-altering injury such as his.
"I was 6-4, weighed 230 pounds and had no physical limitations until my accident," he said. "Then I was devastated. I had been scared before, but there is a difference between being scared and being afraid. And that was the first time in my life that I was truly afraid."
In hospitals, he got a lot of advice about his situation. But none of the experts who were counseling him were in wheelchairs. Or even on crutches.
"That was a turning point for me," he said. "I realized I had something that I could use to help other guys in situations like mine."
And that's why, at 41, he is a sophomore at ETSU, majoring in psychology and hoping eventually to earn a master's degree.
Starting over Hollen grew up in California, played football and other sports, was a scuba diver and enjoyed shooting. "Pretty much anything that went bang, I shot it," he said.
He never was seriously injured in all of his sports activities or in his 10 years in the Rangers and Special Forces. But on March 27, 2001, near Limestone, Tenn., a tractor overturned on him. Right away, he knew how badly he was hurt.
"I was awake the whole time and in total pain," he said. "I knew my life was fixing to change. I knew I was going to have to start everything all over. And I had a conversation with the Lord."
Eventually, he went to Colorado, graduated from a gunsmith school and resumed shooting, with some old Army friends. They got him interested in the Paralympics shooting competitions.
Hollen also decided that gunsmithing, even though it was a career he could pursue easily in a wheelchair, was not for him. He returned to East Tennessee, where his ex-wife lives, to be near his daughter, Payten, now 7. And he enrolled at ETSU to pursue a degree in psychology.
There, and in the surrounding community, he has found a lot of support for his efforts to make the Paralympics.
The ROTC students raised part of the nearly $2,000 needed for a .177-caliber Feinwerkbau competition class, precision air pistol and accessories. Hollen kicked in $800 of his own money. That was the pistol with which he achieved his first qualifying score at the Colorado match.
The ROTC program at ETSU has set up the Eric Hollen Olympic Scholarship Fund to raise money to help defray his travel expenses to other competitions.
And early on, ETSU President Stanton arranged for Hollen to have a key to an indoor gun range, left over from the days when the school regularly fielded renowned rifle teams.
That range is in the basement of an athletic facility with many noisy distractions, not the least of which are very loud thunks from the track team's shot put practice. When the heavy, metal ball - also called a "shot" - hits the floor above Hollen, it is much louder than the soft pop of his own futuristic-looking pistol.
At first, that thunk drove Hollen nuts when he was practicing. Now he is glad of it, because it helped him develop the extreme concentration and focus needed for this kind of shooting.
"Focus is the biggest part of this sport and the hardest one to master," he said. "I can just totally focus on (making my shot). Now, I generally shoot better in matches than I do in practice, because I am more focused," he said.
Inspiring others The event in which he wants to compete requires 60 extremely accurate shots in one hour and 45 minutes. That's a tad over two minutes between shots. It sounds easy. But any competitive shooter will tell you that it isn't.
Besides a regular regimen of pistol practice, Hollen also trains physically to supplement the mental preparation. He swims several days a week, and at least three days a week he lifts weights in a gym to gain upper-body strength.
His pistol weighs about 3 pounds, so at home he routinely lifts a 5-pound weight with his shooting arm. Now, the pistol feels like it weighs nothing at all, he said.
Other ETSU athletes and coaches have noticed Hollen's efforts. Many regard him as an inspiration.
"The athletes who know him have a very high amount of respect for him and for how he's dealt with the challenges he's faced," said ETSU assistant track coach Meg Stone, who has coached Paralympics track teams.
"Instead of sitting and feeling sorry for himself, he has determined to make the best of what he's got," Stone said. "In life, you don't often run into people who truly strive for excellence. He is striving to shoot at an elite level. And he's so fired up for it, it's exciting for me to watch him."
"It's a way for me to level up the playing field again and to redefine myself from the injury," Hollen said. "Up until about a year and a half, two years ago, I couldn't tell my story without starting to bawl. Now, I feel like I have some inspirational ability that I can use to help other people heal up from their injury, both physically and spiritually."
Contributions to help defray Hollen's travel expenses to future shooting competitions may be sent to the Military Science Department, Campus Box 70648, ETSU, Johnson City, TN 37614. Checks should be designated for the "Eric Hollen Scholarship Fund." For additional information, call Angela Haire at 423-439-4269.
Jim Balloch may be reached at 865-342-6315.
Get Copyright Permissions Copyright 2006, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!
MICHAEL PATRICK
NEWS SENTINEL
Eric Hollen, a 41-year-old ETSU student, does controlled breathing as he lowers his pistol to a shooting position during practice at an indoor gun range at the school. He has qualified to be a member of the Paralympics shooting team in Beijing in 2008 and is trying to qualify for official travel funding.
RELATED LINKS
* Audio slide show: Aiming for the U.S. paralympics
PRINT THIS STORY | E-MAIL THIS STORY
Shooting team qualifier, student aims at funding travel to Paralympics
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_5205127,00.html
All fired up
By JIM BALLOCH, [email protected]
December 11, 2006
JOHNSON CITY - A farming accident broke Eric Hollen's back.
http://mas.scripps.com/KNS/2006/12/10/1211shooter2_f.jpg
But it did not break his will. Or his spirit.
Eric Hollen, a 41-year-old ETSU student, does controlled breathing as he lowers his pistol to a shooting position during practice at an indoor gun range at the school. He has qualified to be a member of the Paralympics shooting team in Beijing in 2008 and is trying to qualify for official travel funding.
And it did not hamper his dead-eye aim.
With a determination as strong as the metal of his wheelchair, the East Tennessee State University student and former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier has that aim set firmly on two goals, one of which he has achieved partially.
Short-term goal: Represent his country at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing as a member of the Paralympics shooting team.
Paralympics are athletic competitions between athletes with physical disabilities. They take place every four years, in conjunction with the Olympic Games.
In a recent competition in Colorado, he received a score good enough to qualify for the team but not for official travel funding from the Paralympics organization. He hopes to shoot in several matches between now and 2008 to qualify for funding as well as continue to improve his shooting.
Hollen's long-term goal: become a psychologist, to help other people deal with the emotional and psychological fallout from a life-altering injury such as his.
"I was 6-4, weighed 230 pounds and had no physical limitations until my accident," he said. "Then I was devastated. I had been scared before, but there is a difference between being scared and being afraid. And that was the first time in my life that I was truly afraid."
In hospitals, he got a lot of advice about his situation. But none of the experts who were counseling him were in wheelchairs. Or even on crutches.
"That was a turning point for me," he said. "I realized I had something that I could use to help other guys in situations like mine."
And that's why, at 41, he is a sophomore at ETSU, majoring in psychology and hoping eventually to earn a master's degree.
Starting over Hollen grew up in California, played football and other sports, was a scuba diver and enjoyed shooting. "Pretty much anything that went bang, I shot it," he said.
He never was seriously injured in all of his sports activities or in his 10 years in the Rangers and Special Forces. But on March 27, 2001, near Limestone, Tenn., a tractor overturned on him. Right away, he knew how badly he was hurt.
"I was awake the whole time and in total pain," he said. "I knew my life was fixing to change. I knew I was going to have to start everything all over. And I had a conversation with the Lord."
Eventually, he went to Colorado, graduated from a gunsmith school and resumed shooting, with some old Army friends. They got him interested in the Paralympics shooting competitions.
Hollen also decided that gunsmithing, even though it was a career he could pursue easily in a wheelchair, was not for him. He returned to East Tennessee, where his ex-wife lives, to be near his daughter, Payten, now 7. And he enrolled at ETSU to pursue a degree in psychology.
There, and in the surrounding community, he has found a lot of support for his efforts to make the Paralympics.
The ROTC students raised part of the nearly $2,000 needed for a .177-caliber Feinwerkbau competition class, precision air pistol and accessories. Hollen kicked in $800 of his own money. That was the pistol with which he achieved his first qualifying score at the Colorado match.
The ROTC program at ETSU has set up the Eric Hollen Olympic Scholarship Fund to raise money to help defray his travel expenses to other competitions.
And early on, ETSU President Stanton arranged for Hollen to have a key to an indoor gun range, left over from the days when the school regularly fielded renowned rifle teams.
That range is in the basement of an athletic facility with many noisy distractions, not the least of which are very loud thunks from the track team's shot put practice. When the heavy, metal ball - also called a "shot" - hits the floor above Hollen, it is much louder than the soft pop of his own futuristic-looking pistol.
At first, that thunk drove Hollen nuts when he was practicing. Now he is glad of it, because it helped him develop the extreme concentration and focus needed for this kind of shooting.
"Focus is the biggest part of this sport and the hardest one to master," he said. "I can just totally focus on (making my shot). Now, I generally shoot better in matches than I do in practice, because I am more focused," he said.
Inspiring others The event in which he wants to compete requires 60 extremely accurate shots in one hour and 45 minutes. That's a tad over two minutes between shots. It sounds easy. But any competitive shooter will tell you that it isn't.
Besides a regular regimen of pistol practice, Hollen also trains physically to supplement the mental preparation. He swims several days a week, and at least three days a week he lifts weights in a gym to gain upper-body strength.
His pistol weighs about 3 pounds, so at home he routinely lifts a 5-pound weight with his shooting arm. Now, the pistol feels like it weighs nothing at all, he said.
Other ETSU athletes and coaches have noticed Hollen's efforts. Many regard him as an inspiration.
"The athletes who know him have a very high amount of respect for him and for how he's dealt with the challenges he's faced," said ETSU assistant track coach Meg Stone, who has coached Paralympics track teams.
"Instead of sitting and feeling sorry for himself, he has determined to make the best of what he's got," Stone said. "In life, you don't often run into people who truly strive for excellence. He is striving to shoot at an elite level. And he's so fired up for it, it's exciting for me to watch him."
"It's a way for me to level up the playing field again and to redefine myself from the injury," Hollen said. "Up until about a year and a half, two years ago, I couldn't tell my story without starting to bawl. Now, I feel like I have some inspirational ability that I can use to help other people heal up from their injury, both physically and spiritually."
Contributions to help defray Hollen's travel expenses to future shooting competitions may be sent to the Military Science Department, Campus Box 70648, ETSU, Johnson City, TN 37614. Checks should be designated for the "Eric Hollen Scholarship Fund." For additional information, call Angela Haire at 423-439-4269.
Jim Balloch may be reached at 865-342-6315.
Get Copyright Permissions Copyright 2006, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!
MICHAEL PATRICK
NEWS SENTINEL
Eric Hollen, a 41-year-old ETSU student, does controlled breathing as he lowers his pistol to a shooting position during practice at an indoor gun range at the school. He has qualified to be a member of the Paralympics shooting team in Beijing in 2008 and is trying to qualify for official travel funding.
RELATED LINKS
* Audio slide show: Aiming for the U.S. paralympics
