The love of sports has taken Kristine Franz Ramos around the world. The 41-year-old police seargent in Maliki City, Phillippines grew up playing a variety of sports and earned a basketball scholarship playing with a team that repeatedly won college championships in the Philippines.

After joining the police, Kristine started competing in their police and military league and won medals in several sports. Then came The World Police and Fire Games in 2019, and last summer she brought home a bronze medal in karate from Winnipeg. The experience has literally expanded her perspective.

“Sports represent the ultimate neutral ground, and there’s something about being on neutral ground that draws people together,” she said. “It’s special to compete internationally and find new friends. I also have family abroad who live in the host countries and have been able to visit them.”

Kristine embraces her job with equal passion. “I consider myself a role model. This is my dream to serve and protect my country,” she said. “Knowing that I am making a difference and helping make my country safer is the most rewarding aspect of this job, and it’s what drives me as a police officer every day.”

By Del Moon

The 2023 World Police and Fire Games may have been in Winnipeg Canada, but after repeatedly hearing “Fort Worth” and “That’s a new record!” announced at the powerlifting venue one might have thought a cattle drive was coming through from the heart of Texas.

The Fort Worth Police Department Powerlifting Team brought 15 officers, men and women ranging from 23 to their mid 50s to Canada. They came home with 15 medals (nine gold) and established nine new WPFG records in the various events and weight classes. And it’s not their first rodeo.

“Besides promoting fitness within the department, it’s also a big deal for our men and women to go to these games and do so well,” says team co-founder Officer Polo Meza. He recalls seeing the Texas Police Games had powerlifting when he got out of police academy in 2014. After winning gold in his first try, Meza formed a department team in 2015 and has developed a longtime sponsor relationship with The Bolt Street Gym. FWPD has been a regular at WPFG since 2017, racking up records even before their explosive performance in 2023. The team is already setting individual goals for Birmingham next year.

“Our name has grown. For us to continue to do this for this many years is amazing,” Meza says. “Some come and go, but we’ve been going strong as a team.”

It’s hard to find a regular time for police officers to work out, but they manage to hold monthly trainings and have a coach and a personal program to follow on their own. “The energy and motivation is always high when we get together,” Polo notes. “The comeraderie and conversations among us are great. We also strive to be the best to make ourselves, our city and our department look good and feel proud.”

The team has earned the admiration of their peers and beyond. “We try to bridge gaps in the community by hosting open meets here in Fort Worth where civilians and other powerlifters can see officers being just like them,” Meza notes. “We’re not any different than others, and the public doesn’t always see us like that.”

By Del Moon

Rick Dorey still laughs about how he got started with archery. His West Palm Beach Fire Department was hosting the Florida Firefighter Games in 1994 and needed someone to run archery. He bought a used bow from a pawn shop and learned the sport to better understand it. Rick, 66, has not stopped competing or helping organize shooting events since.

Now retired, Rick has inspired his two sons to not only become firefighters but to also take up the bow and arrow. One of them, Jason, is now also competitng in World Police and Fire Games.

In 2001 Rick attended his first WPFG in Indianapolis and brought home a silver medal. He has competed in 10 of the last 12 games and has tallied 20 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze medals and holds 2 WPFG records. Jason first stepped to the line with his dad in Amsterdam in 2022 and returned to Winnipeg in 2023. The 42-year-old driver/engineer has already bagged 2 gold, a silver and a bronze medal in WPFG competition.

“I really did it to do something with dad,” Jason said. “It’s a neat experience to see and meet people from around the world.”

Rick doubles down on his son’s point. ”We’ve made friends from around the world and see how other departments work,” he says. “When we were on a cruise to Hong Kong we met and had dinner with a friend who we have shot archery with in the Games for years.”

Rick picked up the sport to help his department out, but he has continued because he views it almost as therapy. “I gtuess I could call it a calming effect. With all that we experience and see as first responders, it’s a release to be able to take a deep breath, settle in, and concentrate on something else so hard that it pushes all that stuff out of your mind.”

Both men are recruiting their peers in Florida to go to Birmingham in 2025. “I’m telling everyone this is the closest it’s ever been and they owe it to themselves to go,” Rick says.

By Del Moon