1 Sep 2008
It was day one of the national competition and Justin was standing in the throwing circle waiting for the official to hand him the discus for the last of his six throws. Four of his first five throws had inched progressively farther than the one before and one had landed foul outside the white lines that marked his throwing sector. This would be Justin’s last chance at the national record that lay just a few centimeters past his longest throw of the day. He had thrown it past the record length in practice and his coach assured him that he could do it again. “Just stay calm,” he called from outside the tall fence enclosure. “Remember your technique and do it just like at home.” Justin took a deep breath and took the metal discus that was offered to him. It was up to him now. No more coaching allowed. No more tips or reminders about form. Justin went through the steps in his head – feet shoulder width, deep squat, rotate back, head and shoulders up, keep your thumb down – now, HARD AND FAST! The discus sailed out of his hands. He had lifted his thumb, he knew it. No, the spinning blur looked pretty flat as it cut through the air. The spectators were cheering – but they cheered after every release. It did look pretty good though. Ooh, ooh, stay in. It dropped. Just inside the line. And it looked like a good throw. It would definitely be close. Justin stood behind the circle waiting as the volunteers ran out carrying the measuring tape for the official. He waited, watching the figure squatted over the tape in front of him. There it was – the signal to bring out the metal tape and the head official. The signal for a new national record!
During the remainder of the week, Justin would take two more first place awards in Field, another in both Archery and Table Tennis and a second place in Swimming - all Personal Bests that were drawn out by the spirit of competition. Pretty impressive athleticism, huh? Well, Justin’s road to this national competition was not the path of a typical athlete. He hadn’t started in competitive athletics until two years earlier when he was 15 years old. It’s not that he wasn’t interested. Not that he wasn’t capable. He didn’t have a life hampering disease that he had overcome two years before either. He simply wasn’t given the opportunity before that time. Justin had always been an athlete. He had always played tennis with his brother and ridden bikes and golfed with his dad. He had always bowled and swam. But until two years ago, Justin had never competed against his peers.
Justin, born with cerebral palsy, had never been able to participate on his siblings’ sports teams due to the physical limitations of his spastic hemiplegia (a specific form of CP in which one side of the body does not function as well as the other side). So for fifteen years Justin had set on the sidelines believing he would never participate, let alone be truly competitive, in sports. Then two years ago, Justin’s family found MASR.
MASR, MidSouth Adaptive Sports and Recreation, Inc., was founded in January of 2007 to right the injustice of athletes like Justin sitting on the sidelines watching others have all the fun. Since that time, MASR has offered both competitive and recreational opportunities to children and youth with physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy, spina bifada, limb loss, spinal cord injury and other diagnosed physical conditions. Young people from Mid-town to Jackson and from Millington to northern Mississippi have learned, like Justin, that there is a venue for them to compete in sports like wheelchair basketball, track & field, swimming, archery and table tennis. The MASR participants have met kids with physical challenges similar to their own here in the Mid South and at regional and national competitions around the country. They have met them, challenged them in fair competition, laughed with them and, in the process, discovered that they can laugh at themselves.
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