Aric – What role has adaptive sports played in your life?

Being in a small town, there was nothing else there, so I was still part of the baseball team. And I would dress out, and keep the books, or get the bats, bat boy stuff. Same thing with football, even though I wasn’t active. So, I wanted to do something else, and I got into wheelchair racing. And it was fun until I saw the hills, and they were too high and I’m like, “no, this is not for me.” In college, tried basketball and it was good. After college, moved to Atlanta, tried little things and then a gentleman from the Shepherd Center said, “let’s water ski.” And went out, and just fell in love, and that too allowed the independence because, you’re on your own. It was a struggle to learn to get in the skis, how to hold the rope and things, but again, you set the goals just like in rehab, and go and accomplish them one at a time. And he talked me into skiing in a tournament. I couldn’t do the course, I could barely get up on the ski, but I did it just for the experience and it was fantastic. So, again it puts you out in front, makes you think of beyond your capabilities and gets you motivated to do more.