MATT SCOTT, UW-Whitewater student athlete: "With the right attitude and hard work…that gets you a long way."
AS ONE OF THE TOP ATHLETES IN HIS SPORT, MATT SCOTT KNOWS ALL ABOUT HARD WORK.
MATT: "I have standards for myself that I won't let fall."
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MATT: "I went on the court and never came off. I love it. I love the game. It's so much fun. I love wheelchair basketball."
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MATT WAS BORN WITH SPINA BIFIDA… AND HAS LITTLE TO NO STRENGTH IN HIS LEGS…
MATT: "I wasn't able to walk, but I adapted. My mother was very, very motivating. She never let me make any excuses for anything."
NOT EVEN DURING HIS TOUGHEST TIMES… WHEN INFECTIONS FORCED DOCTORS TO AMPUTATE HIS FEET.
MATT: "When the doctor told me that the infection got all the way down to the bone and that I was going to have to get it amputated… that was tough to hear. I was like this was my foot man… you can't take off my foot. Don't you have a pill or like some medicine or something. You're a doctor, do something."
BUT THERE WAS NOTHING TO BE DONE, EXCEPT TO AMPUTATE.
AS YOU CAN SEE… IT DOESN'T REALLY HOLD HIM BACK… HE JUST KEPT LIVING BY THE STANDARD HIS MOTHER SET…
MATT: "There's no difference between you and anybody else. If you want something, then go get it. Don't make cheap excuses."
FITTING THEN… THAT NIKE WOULD PICK MATT TO STAR IN A CAMPAIGN TITLED, NO EXCUSES.
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MATT: "We are very capable of being great athletes. People aren't believers until they see it. Being recognized on a national scale is a huge way to break down that barrier."
THIS ENTIRE UW-WHITEWATER TEAM IS RECOGNIZED ON A NATIONAL SCALE…
TRACY CHYNOWETH, Head Coach, Warhawk Wheelchair Basketball Team: "We're the Duke of wheelchair basketball when it comes to… where do you want to go to be part of a premiere program and be a premiere athlete? This is it."
IN THE PAST SIX YEARS, THE WARHAWKS HAVE WON FIVE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS…
STUDENTS COME TO THIS CAMPUS FROM AS FAR AWAY AS ISRAEL AND IRELAND TO PLAY FOR THIS TEAM…
TRACY: "A lot of guys that come here, come here to make national teams and have an impact on the national scale, on the world scale. I don't treat them like they're wheelchair athletes. I treat them like athletes."
AND THAT'S JUST WHAT JAY BAKER NEEDED. HE'S ALWAYS BEEN AN ATHLETE. HIS PRIMARY SPORT WAS FOOTBALL.
JAY BAKER, UW-Whitewater student athlete: "I was a big offensive lineman… that's probably what saved my life."
A FEW WEEKS AFTER GRADUATING FROM UW-WHITEWATER IN 2003, JAY WAS RIDING HIS MOTORCYCLE WHEN A DRUNK DRIVER HIT HIM HEAD ON.
JAY: "Trapped my left leg between the car and the bike. I got thrown like 100 feet. My left leg stayed with the bike, on the road."
HE WASN'T REALLY EXPECTED TO LIVE… BUT HE'S STUBBORN…
JAY: "I actually got prosthetics and I was up and walking within 3 months."
JAY WAS SO BUSY PUSHING HIMSELF TO GET BETTER THAT THE REALITY OF HIS INJURIES DIDN'T REALLY SINK IN…
JAY: "When you do realize it, it really hits hard… and it gets to be hard to accept."
HE STARTED DOING MORE AND MORE DRINKING.
JAY: "And I actually crashed my truck one night because of it and that's really what started turning things around for me. I had to call my dad and he came to pick me up that night and just seeing the look on his face… that was probably the worst part.. letting them down. That's when I made the decision to come talk to Tracy and come back to school."
HE WAS LUCKY TO LAND IN A PLACE THAT REMINDED HIM TO FOCUS ON ABILITY, NOT APPEARANCE.
JAY: "I don't really use my prosthetics anymore because it's so much easier getting around in a chair. I can do so many more things."
THE SHARED DESIRE TO EMPHASIZE STRENGTH OVER WEAKNESS, BONDS THIS BASKETBALL TEAM INTO A BROTHERHOOD…
JAY: "You could wish you could go back and take things back. I don't really do that anymore because if I did, I'd lose way too many friends. These guys outside, they're my family now."
JEREMEY CAMPBELL, UW-Whitewater student athlete: "When the rest of the world doesn't quite know and doesn't quite understand, we all have each other as a support network."
AND THEY RELY ON EACH OTHER TO CHANGE ATTITUDES. ABOUT DISABILITY, AND EVEN MORE SO, ABOUT POSSIBILITY.
MATT: "I'm living proof that things can be done."
CAMPBELL: "We all have our burdens in life, disabled or not, and if somebody can look at me or my team and that gives them something to push through what they're going through, then by all means, I want to be that."
MATT: "Don't make any excuses in anything. Don't make excuses in life. Don't make excuses in school. Don't make excuses with friends, with family… just don't make any excuses. Strive for the best and hold yourself to a higher standard."
TRACY: "From day to day, try to be a better person. Try to be a better coach. Try to be a better athlete. Try to be better at whatever it is you do and if the people around you don't buy in… if society isn't captivated by what we're doing… well then, so be it. We are."
AND REALLY… ISN'T THAT WHAT COUNTS.
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