In this class we have talked a lot about athletes who overcome physical disabilities to participate in sports. One great example of this is Matt Steven, a high school basketball player who also happens to be completely blind. His story was featured in an article on ESPN.com and written by columnist Rick Reilly. The article is titled “Matt Steven can't see the hoop. But he'll still take the last shot” and can be found in its entirety by clicking HERE.
According to the article, Matt was born with two permanently detached retinas, which makes it impossible for him to see anything. In spite of his disability, he still joined the basketball game, with no expectations to play in a game. According to the article, Matt just “likes to be on the team.” Even knowing it was unlikely that he would ever see playing time, he went to every practice, and worked on his free throws. That’s when his brother, who is also the team’s coach got an idea.
He put his brother in one game to shoot all of the free throws. Matt was led to the line by a teammate, and then his brother tapped on the edge of the basket with Matt’s cane. Remarkably, Matt made four out of eight free throws in that game, much to the team’s (and the crowd’s) delight. At the time the article was written, the team was planning on having Matt shoot free throws in the next few games.
This young man is a remarkable testament to what people can accomplish, when they don’t let challenges dampen their spirits or undermine their perseverance. I like this article and this kid’s story because it reminds me that if I persevere I can overcome anything too. I think that it is inspiring to know that a kid who is blind can sink free throws with better accuracy than some NBA players. Who knew?
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This is a really great story, I think this is one reason why I love sport so much. It gives the underdog a chance to persevere no matter what the disability. You hear of stories of these every once in a while and it just makes you feel good, and like you said just gives you that much more hope and determination.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great story about overcoming disability to succeed in sport. The first thing I thought of was Shaq's free throw percentage and I wondered if it was as good as Matt Stevens. I have a feeling it is not. Thanks for sharing this story.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, I'm pretty sure the writer mentioned that Matt's percentage was better than Shaq's. That's one of the reasons I loved this particular story so much!
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