#Movin' Mavs

[deinheilpraktiker]

UTA-Forscher wollen Assistenzroboter entwickeln, um Menschen mit Rückenmarksverletzungen zu helfen Eine Informatikforscherin der Universität von Texas in Arlington entwickelt ein Robotersystem, das Menschen mit Rückenmarksverletzungen bei der Durchführung alltäglicher Aufgaben hilft, und sie bezieht Mitglieder des UTA ​​Movin' Mavs-Rollstuhlbasketballteams in die Bemühungen ein. Fillia Makedon, eine angesehene Professorin am Institut für Informatik und Ingenieurwesen, erhielt ein Stipendium in Höhe von 218.000 US-Dollar aus dem DARE-Programm (Disability and Rehabilitatio... #Behinderung #Ermüdung #Forschung #Künstliche_Intelligenz #Labor #Lähmung #Maschinelles_Lernen #Rollstuhl #Rückenmarksverletzung #Studenten #Tiefes_Lernen

[positiveaboutdisability]

Josie Aslakson is a 25 year old paralympic wheelchair basketball player for Team USA.

Josie was born in Edina, a small city in the state of Minnesota. While born able-bodied, she sustained a complete spinal cord injury in a car accident at the age of 5. Despite receiving excellent hospital care, this meant she would be completely paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life and that she would never have any feeling in her legs again.

Fortunately, the accident didn’t cause any other medical issues and Josie grew up in excellent health. Obviously, growing up as a wheelchair user comes with some challenges from time to time, but while however she sometimes felt sorry that she couldn’t participate in everything her friends and classmates did, Josie always stood out with her extremely positive attitude!

At the age of 13, Josie was practicing at one of her archery lessons, and the basketball coach(who was training at the same time) pushed her to try basketball. The coach immediately spotted that Josie had quite some talent and encouraged her to give it a go.

In the beginning Josie played together with the ‘regular’ basketball team of Jordan High School, which she attended and contrary to what you might expect, she matched the level of her teammates very well and even turned out as one of the top players of the team!

After high school, Josie switched to the womens wheelchair basketball team of the the University of Texas at Arlington, the Lady Movin’ Mavs. This is where her talent fully blossomed and in 2014, she was selected for the World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Incheon, South Korea where she and her teammates finished second(after Australia). In 2018, she then played for Team USA in the World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, where she finished 6’th.

Now, Josie is preparing for her first ever Paralympic Games, which will start in a couple of weeks in Tokyo, Japan! Good luck Josie 💪

If you're interested, you can check out Josie's Instagram page. I can also really recommend the great interview Josie recently had with Palms to Pines Parasports 📺⬇️

Good luck to Josie and Team USA! 🇺🇸

[lgg5989]

God Speed - A Rooster Songfic

A/N: Sorry I haven't posted anything in a minute guys, I think covid is ~finally~ done kicking my ass, so I'll be back to my semi-regular posting.

God Speed - Zach Bryan

Masterlist

---

Bradley was tired, he had been driving for almost thirty-six hours. At this point he didn’t know what state he was in, but he knew that he still had plenty of driving left to do before he reached the University of Virginia. He saw the signs for a rest area up ahead and decided to stop for the night, he needed the sleep. 

He pulled the Bronco into a parking spot on the edge of the rest area and stepped out for the first time in four hours. Reaching his hands above his head, he stretched as he made his way to the bathroom. When he came back to the truck, he climbed into the back seat, covering himself with an old blanket that he kept for emergencies. 

He crossed one arm behind his head, looking up at the roof of the truck. He could just see a few stars twinkling at him from the window above his head. Closing his eyes, he tried to let sleep pull him into her warm embrace. When he closed his eyes, all he could see was Mav’s face, regret and hurt displayed on his features. 

Bradley let out a firm breath, trying to steady himself. He opened his eyes again, staring up at the tan interior of the Bronco. He made it through the Rocky Mountains today, watching the road disappear behind him as he drove himself away from home. Every time he looked in his rear view mirror, he had almost hoped to see Mav, riding his bike like the devil himself to try and catch up with him. But Bradley knew that if he didn’t leave Mav and their home behind, then his dreams, everything he had worked for, would die. 

He wanted so many things for his life, but at this point, he might be too broken to deserve them. He wanted to see new places, explore the world and the US in ways he hadn’t gotten the chance to since his mom had been sick. He wanted to find a girl who loved him, with all his broken pieces and cracks, someone who would make all the hurt worth it. He wanted to make love to her, maybe in the back of this very truck, under the stars that taunted him now. They could lay in bed together all day after late nights spent in each other's company, and it would be pure bliss. 

The thought that he wanted to live to be an old man crossed his mind and his mind was brought to Ice and Mav. They weren’t old necessarily, but they had plenty of messed up stories to share of times with each other or just themselves. He longed to have stories of his own to share and friends of his own to share them with. They would laugh about how foolish they had been as young men, convinced that life would never end. 

Closing his eyes, he sent up a prayer. He knew that the only people who cared about him now were God and his mom, both of them watching him from above. He looked at the picture of his mom on the dash, asking her in a pleading whisper, "Take it easy on me?" 

He knew better than anyone else that the world was a cruel place, but maybe someone up there would take pity on him. With thoughts of his parents swimming through his mind, sleep pulled him under. 

'Cause I'm movin' at God speed

Only God and my mama know what I need

And I feel the hardwood floors on my knees

As I beg you just to take it easy on me

[crassussativum]

Day 14: Wild

Cipritine, Palaven: 2214

“Daddy! Daddy! Uncle Saren’s here!”

Mav hated to admit it, but Saren was probably his daughter’s favorite person. Just the way she smiled and lit up whenever she saw him, how totally excited she became and how she always asked to visit him... Yeah, he wanted to be Elysia’s favorite but he couldn’t really blame her choice. They’d bonded over heir biotics, a little like she had with Sept, and he was grateful for it even if that meant they weren’t quite as close.

“I know, baby.” He smiled and followed the whirlwind of wild energy to the front of the house where Saren had already let himself in. It made him unspeakably happy to see his sort-of-brother kneel to hug his daughter. “Hey, Saren.”

“Mavic,” He inclined his head as he stood again, Elysia holding onto his hand.

“Just droppin’ by for?”

“I thought it was time I saw your new home for myself.” He said with a minute flick of his mandibles.

“Uncle Saren you have to see my new room!” Elysia said and already she tried to pull him in that direction.

Mav smiled again. “Yeah, you better. Then we can sit and chat if you wanna.”

“Yes, we can-”

“Come on, Uncle!” Elysia pulled at him harder and there was a single soft flare of bright blue. “Ooops! I’m sorry.”

“Take a deep breath and center yourself again, Elysia.” Saren told her in a patient tone while Mav stood there with his mandibles tight to his jaw. It was just a moment and she had done what she was told and was smiling again.

“Now can I show you my room?”

“Of course you may.”

Mav breathed easier. Those little biotic accidents were happening more frequently but thankfully they were still small. “Y’all do that and I’ll get some lunch goin’.”

It was some time before Saren joined him in the kitchen, after a bunch of excited laughter and a few loud bangs. Mav stood at the counter prepping a meal, cutting up some veggies and fish and then a few pieces of fruit for Elysia. Saren came to lean beside him.

“She’s had a eventful week.”

Mav snorted a laugh. “Oh yeah, she loved movin’. Helpin’ to carry in boxes and all that. You shoulda seen her slidin’ half of ‘em across the floor, puttin’ her whole body against ‘em. It was great. She’s excited to do our decoratin’ for us, too. We told her she had to leave her brother’s room alone ‘til he came back for leave and could help her.”

“I know.” Saren gave a soft laugh of his own. “Have you decided on a school?”

“Not yet,” He said and got the veggies in to saute. “There’s two in this district that would be good for her when she starts next year. Sept and I are just tryin’ to decide which one would be better, y’know? We’re lookin’ at a lot of recommendations, pros and cons, that sorta thing.”

His brother nodded. “Let me know should you need anything.”

“O’course.” Mav flicked him a grin, happy for his company and whatever help he could provide. A decade or so ago, he’d have never thought his brother would be as involved a member of his family as he’d decided to be. “O’course.” 

[build-a-buddy]

Goldie

About

Name: Goldie

Brand: Webkinz Classic Golden Retriever

Goldie is another one of my early Webkinz, maybe my third. He’s a soft floppy tan day with fake fur the same color on his head, back, and ears.

Headcanons about Goldie:

Best friends with Mutt

Loves to play fetch with anything thrown, including other stuffed animals

Enjoys using sports equipment like treadmills, dumbbells, weights, and more

Likes to watch sports games, big fan of the Movin’ Mavs wheelchair basketball team at the Owner’s college

Favorite snack is anything made of marzipan, but he also like any kind of bones

Trying to convince the others to help him buy a tiny basketball hoop and ball off Amazon so he can play basketball games in the Owner’s room when they’re away; no one has taken him up on his offer of ‘all the epic dunks you can make’ as payment

[futurejunglist]

FJS returns with more of the freshest DnB for your mind, body and soul! Capturing the last couple weeks of releases, I have tunes from Kiwis Dynamix, Flowidus, Monika, Need For Mirrors, Severus, Unsub & n0isemakeR, Willy Mav & Elipsa, and Yetti; international reps from Bcee & Charlotte Haining, BRUK, Conrad Subs, Disrupta, Furniss, Nick The Lot, Phaction, Serum & Kasra, SHOCKONE, Skylark, Unglued and Zombie Cats; plus label love for C.I.A., Dispatch, Spearhead Records, Sub-liminal Recordings, Unchained Recordings and Vision Recordings.

Massive thanks to all artists and listeners, stay safe and crank the bass!

Contact & tracklists: https://www.gwarden.net/ ~ https://linktr.ee/gwarden_nz 

Mixcloud // Facebook

LIVE on 8K.NZ ~ SAT 19:00-21:00 // MON 00:00 // FRI 22:00 (NZST)

Bcee, Charlotte Haining - Almost There [Spearhead Records]

Willy Mav, Elipsa - Without You [Lunchbox Records]

Critycal Dub - Movin [Original Key Records]

Lovely, DJ Fu - Borders [Guidance]

Fena, Barbarix - Devoted (T>I Remix) [Murky Digital]

Coppa, Jess - Too Far [Korsakov Music]

Xav - Crisp Packet [Sub-liminal Recordings]

Leo Wood, Phaction - I Have You (Ill Truth Remix) [Computer Integrated Audio]

Conrad Subs - Roll In Motion [Hardpoint Recordings]

T.R.A.C., L-side - Bad Bonus (Paul T & Edward Oberon Remix) [V Recordings]

Leaf, Dunk - Jamaican Dub [Sub-liminal Recordings]

Kidsonic - Liquify [Hanzom Music]

Thematic - Cloud Cover [Sofa Sound]

Mystic State - Ashes (feat. JFO) [The Chikara Project]

Trail - Frames [Flexout Audio]

Oat - IntoTheSun [Silhouette Audio]

Dissident - Vril [Dispatch LTD]

Unglued - Pigeon Funk [Hospital Records]

Serum, Kasra - Noodles [Critical Music]

Flava D - What You Mean 2 Me [Hospital Records]

Mozey - Demons Dreaming [Souped Up Records]

Dub Justice - Shout [Eternal Muzic Records]

Disrupta, J Select - Butter Fingers (VIP) [Born On Road]

Kendrick - Shotgun Scatter [Bites]

Jayline - Waterphone [Sound Bully Audio]

Furniss - Wavelength [Biological Beats]

GLM - Magma [sub:stance recordings]

Isotropik - Oil & Water [Demand Records]

Calibre - Fire & Water [Soul:R]

Askel, Monika - Folding [Atmomatix Records]

Kyrist, Steo - Find A Meaning (Zero T Remix) [Dispatch Recordings]

Total Science - Fallen Angel [C.I.A. QS]

Riya, Break - I Don't Need [Spearhead Records]

Total Science - Lightweight (Break Remix) [Computer Integrated Audio]

Phaction - Deus Ex [Metalheadz Platinum]

Dynamix_NZ - Cold Heat [DSCI4]

Contraversy - Cymatics (Volition Remix) [Faction Digital Recordings]

BRUK - Error [Audio Addict Records]

Arcane - Planet X (feat. Samurai Breaks) [Rua Sound]

Dope Ammo, Mix Ten, Jasmine Knight - How Did It Go Down (AN Remix) [Kartoons]

Sikka, Dcision - Heavy Tune [Inner City Dance]

Zombie Cats - Exit [Dispatch Recordings]

Yetti Ft Big Smoke - Covid VIP [Dubplate]

OAKK, Rider Shafique - Growing (Radiax Remix) [Unchained Recordings]

Lovely - Synthetik Dub [Guidance]

Sense, Shea Doll - Never [Infrared Records]

Tash Sultana - Notion (Severus Bootleg) [Dubplate]

Monika - Tuff and Rumble [SBK]

Doctor Jeep - Unreal (Rohaan Remix) [Unchained Recordings]

IMANU, Buunshin - Nagow [Vision Recordings]

Full Kontakt, Vegas - Need IT [Bad Taste Recordings]

Unsub & n0isemakeR ft. J. Augustus - Bella Madness [PHDM]

Skylark - Pressure Points [DIVIDID]

Phace, Was A Be - Rave Changing [Neosignal Recordings]

Waeys - Ultimatum [Overview Music]

Emperor - Snuffle Ting [Vision Recordings]

Need For Mirrors - Lambo [V Recordings]

KH aka Four Tet - Only Human (Need For Mirrors Bootleg Mix) [Dubplate]

Nick The Lot - Extra Clips [Prototype Recordings Corporation]

Willy Mav, Elipsa - Falling [DNB Allstars Records]

Friction, Flowidus, Raphaella - By Your Side [Elevate Records]

SHOCKONE - Follow Me [UKF]

[scitechman]

Engineering Students Build Treadmill That Helps Athletes in Wheelchairs Work out

Engineering Students Build Treadmill That Helps Athletes in Wheelchairs Work out

The eight-time national champion UTA Movin’ Mavs might be getting even better soon, thanks to some ingenuity among mechanical engineering students.

A University of Texas at Arlington senior design project team built a treadmill that can be used by athletes in wheelchairs.

Brandon Griffin, team leader on the project and a mechanical engineering student, said the idea of a wheelchair…

[randybenedict]

UTA engineering students build treadmill that can be used by athletes in wheelchairs

The eight-time national champion UTA Movin' Mavs might be getting even better soon, thanks to some ingenuity among mechanical engineering students. from The Medical News http://bit.ly/2IAkcqT

[utamovinmavs-blog]

Oklahoma Teen Continues Dreams Despite Disability

When Logan Shaw was just 13 years old his life changed dramatically. He was in a serious go-cart accident that nearly killed him, but what didn’t kill him left him paralyzed from the waist down.

When he found wheelchair basketball, though, he found a way to pursue his dreams allowing him to never consider himself disabled. He recently signed a letter-of-intent to play wheelchair basketball for the University of Texas at Arlington.

The Movin’ Mavs has a long history of consistently producing All-American athletes and winning National Championships – seven in all – while having an extraordinarily high graduation rate. Shaw hopes this next chapter will help him achieve his goal of joining the U.S. Paralympics Wheelchair Basketball team.

This past weekend Shaw played in the Jim Hayes Memorial Junior Division Regional Tournament for the last time before transitioning to collegiate wheelchair basketball. He is wise beyond his years and is an inspiration for all. It is his positive attitude and remarkable perseverance that helps him strive toward excellence.

Prior to his accident, Shaw was an active child who loved sports. After his injury, he didn’t let his disability stop him. He found ways to play the sports he loved from his wheelchair – never letting his disability become his excuse. His motto: “The disability doesn’t make you. You make the disability.”

[positiveaboutdisability]

Emmi Hilbish is an amazing, 22 year old wheelchair basketball player from Texas. She currently plays for the University of Texas at Arlington Lady Movin' Mavs wheelchair basketball team...

She uses a wheelchair because of Spina Bifida...

[positiveaboutdisability]

Emmi Hilbish is an amazing, 22 year old wheelchair basketball player from Texas. She currently plays for the University of Texas at Arlington Lady Movin' Mavs wheelchair basketball team...

She uses a wheelchair because of spina bifida...

[crassussativum]

Ooc- Enemies and Allies: Chapter 26

Chapter 26

“Crass!” Taren slung her arms around his neck and hugged tightly while he held her off the ground and squeezed back just as close.

“Congratulations,” He said and pressed a kiss to her short fringe.

“I thought you weren’t going to make it in time.” She trilled as he sat her back on her feet. “I kept looking and looking for you-”

“I was late. I had to stand toward the back.” He confessed. “I wouldn’t miss your induction. I’d planned to be here even if Mav and I were still in the field.”

“How is he?” Taren asked, stepping back and smoothing down the new cadet uniform she wore. Today, after she’d graduation from school with honors and been accepted to an engineering focused program.

Crassus did the same with his Blackwatch dress uniform and shrugged. “I haven’t seen him since he left the hospital, but he was recovering fine.” He, of course, hadn’t told her the details of how badly Mav had been injured, or about the secondary infection that had nearly killed the smaller turian, but weeks later, he was finally doing better. “I was thinking about paying him a visit later.”

Taren looped her arms around one of his. “After you feed me, right?”

“Of course.” He laughed and lead her from the audience hall.

…

Later that evening, after he had taken Taren back to her dorm, Crassus drove out to Mav’s apartment in Cipritine. He found the high-rise building easily enough, left his car in the lot and then waited a ridiculous amount of time for the elevator to take him to the correct floor. He knocked on the door a half dozen times before Mav answered it, leaning heavily on the door frame, too pale and thin looking. He guessed all the medicine the smaller been given after leaving the hospital wasn’t treating him well.

“You look half way to dead,” He told Mav with a carefully teasing flick of his mandibles.

Mav snorted at him. “I reckon I probably do,” He stood to the side to let Crassus in.

The apartment was relatively small but didn’t look near as cluttered as Mav’s ship had. In fact it was nice and orderly, decorated simply. A few fake plants, a couch and matching chair, a bookshelf… It looked a lot like Crassus’ own apartment on the Citadel and that was something he honestly hadn’t expected.

“How are you feeling?” He asked as Mav gestured that he sit on the couch.

“Half way to dead,” Mav grinned and sat down next to him with a pained groan. “Fuck. I feel fine overall. Sore, mostly. I’m fuckin’ hungry but they still got me on a liquid diet and that just don’t hit the spot.”

“I imagine it doesn’t.” Crassus agreed.

“Not at fuckin’ all.” He sighed and leaned his head back. “They gave me shit to help me sleep too but it makes me sick. First time I threw up I thought I was gonna ruin all their good work. The stitches and graphs, I mean. Don’t want that.”

He hadn’t known Mav was having trouble sleeping, but after what Nival had done to him, it made sense that he would. “Nightmares?”

“Sometimes,” The smaller agent said. “Mostly I just can’t get to sleep. Too tense, y’know?”

Crassus nodded his head. “Have you talked to anyone?”

“’Bout what Nival did?” Mav arched a brow at him. “Nah. I mean, the docs asked, ‘course they did, but what’s there to really say? He cut me open and scooped my stuffin’ out.”

He flicked his mandibles. “That’s nearly the definition of a traumatizing experience.”

“Layin’ there lookin’ at my guts and blood, wonderin’ where you were? Yeah.” He deadpanned. “Thought I got you killed ‘til I heard you prayin’ over me.”

Crassus felt his mandibles shift back and forth. “I thought my inability to react quickly got you killed.”

Mav snorted again. “You did the only thing you can do when someone throws a grenade at you. Dunk, cover and hope for the best.” He sighed and tried to make himself comfortable on the couch. “Nival threw that at you and I just… fuck, big guy, I screwed up not takin’ him down by force when I had the chance. I wanted to give him the opportunity to explain, yknow? Cuz he was one of ours, figured I owed him that much, crazy or not, thought I owed him a chance to explain.”

“I thought we did, too.” Crassus agreed, looking at him sideways. Mav’s mandibles were pressed flat along his jaw. “Neither of us knew how far gone he was, not at all.”

“Nah,” The smaller turian hummed with another sigh. “He got me on that table and used some tool I’d never seen before to crack my armor open like a fuckin’ egg. Then he used his talons to cut me. Said he didn’t want to damage what was in me, he just needed to get to it. I could feel him movin’ stuff ‘bout...reachin’ in me… Then you were there.”

His mandibles fluttered.

“I was real glad to see you,” Mav continued. “Real glad. Grateful, even. You were alive and I knew you’d do everythin’ in your power to keep me that way, too. Did… Have I thanked you yet?”

Crassus blinked at him, his mandibles fluttering. “Ah… no, no you haven’t, but you don’t need-”

“Thanks for savin’ my life, Crass.” The smaller turian interrupted, smiling at him. “Told you I didn’t have a death-wish.”

That last bit startled a laugh out of him and Crassus ran a hand over his fringe when it had stopped, looking to Mav again and his little smile. “You’re welcome, Mav.”

Mav flicked his mandibles with that smile and then leaned sideways to touch his foreplate to Crassus’ shoulder in a sign of affection. The action surprised him more than he could really put words to, but in the end, he patted Mav’s fringe in acceptance.

[utamovinmavs-blog]

Movin’ the Mavs, Movin’ His Life and Movin’ to Success with Maverick Pride

His spine was injured, but his optimism remained strong. His legs may be paralyzed, but his thoughts are bold. His heart is inculcated with a passionate fountain that rolls his chariot, while he hoops the baskets, aces his classes, loves his daughter and wife and lives his life simple and nice.

Sublime, optimistic and with no touch of pride for being a caring husband, loving father and a hardworking sportsman, Juan Soto is every inch a man of these qualities and perhaps more. He is a 31-year-old Army veteran, a senior advertising student at the University of Texas at Arlington, a Movin’ Mavs wheelchair basketball player and above all a man who is in love with life.

“I’m all about taking it easy, and I don’t demand much, and I just live simple,” Soto said. “What matters for me is being happy with whatever I do.”

He lives with his wife, Catherine Soto, 10-year-old daughter, Danyelle Soto, and two dogs in Arlington.

Soto has been at UT-Arlington for only three semesters and has already established himself among the top five student athletes.  The Wheelchair Colleges Division recognized him as one of the top five players coming into the division last year.

After serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, he started working as a Dish T.V. installer in San Antonio.

On a cold rainy winter day in December 2003, three days before Christmas, he injured his spine in a car accident.

“I was just driving for work, I took my eyes off the road and suddenly the car just rolled up and here we are now, glad to be alive,” Soto said.

Soto was hospitalized for only three and a half weeks. He left the hospital with the same faith in himself and his family as he had before his accident. Since then, he has not taken any therapy or depression counseling. He said he believes bemoaning the accident is not prudent.

“It did suck for me, but it was worse for my family and I didn’t want to let them down in any way whatsoever, and out of the necessity of supporting my family I didn’t let my injury get in my way of being there for them,” Soto said.

He thanks his wife for her loving and caring attitude.

“My beautiful and brave wife had to take care of two babies, me and my daughter, who was only two years old at that time,” Soto said. “I couldn’t have made it this far without her.”

A year and a half after the accident, Soto started playing wheelchair basketball for San Antonio. He also participated in the National Veteran Wheelchair Games in Minnesota.

“I played my first game and we ended up winning a bronze in wheelchair basketball and this was the time I started developing more interest in wheelchair basketball,” he said.

UTA Movin’ Mavs Coach Dough Garner recognized Soto’s talent at the National Wheelchair game in Denver, when he was still playing for San Antonio.

After researching UTA’s adaptive sports programs, Soto was very excited about applying for it.

“The facilities and the history of the Movin’ Mavs program is amazing, and in our entire nation there are very few adaptive sports programs in universities that have locker rooms and separate facilities for their wheelchair basketball teams,” Soto said. “In fact, UTA Movin’ Mavs’ story is the history of the wheelchair basketball.”

“Juan is a quiet leader, a leader who makes those around him better, and his teammates enjoy playing with him on the court,” Garner said. “His growing confidence will help take him to the next level of intercollegiate division play in the coming months and Juan will help bring big things to the Movin’ Mavs in the coming seasons.”

Soto is a true maverick. His persistent defiance of not succumbing to the tragedies of life is an epitome of Maverick pride. He is working hard to be an Academic All-American and desires to represent his country at the 2016 Paralympics in Brazil.

“I want to be as good as I can and I have to do it as fast as I can, because I’ll be a 36-year-old man competing with very young athletes so I have to train harder and play faster,” Soto said. 

Soto has high ambitions for his family and the UTA Movin’ Mavs program family.

“I think of my basketball team as my family and I work on the court and outside the court to serve in the best interests of my family,” Soto said.

He added that he is thankful to the UT Arlington’s adaptive sports program and said he plans to serve the program with sincerity and passion.

[utamovinmavs-blog]

A Miracle That Keeps Movin’

My passion for recreational programs and activities offered to people with disabilities began not long after my son, Tyler, was born with spina bifida in 1986. When Tyler was old enough to take part in sporting events and told my wife, Becky, and me about his eagerness to participate, we became discouraged. We realized the only way he was going to have opportunities was if we created them because there were so few available to children with disabilities. So, that is exactly what we did.  

Becky and I worked Tyler’s opportunities around our schedules of trying to grow our business. Shortly after, we entered Tyler in road races, where we were introduced to the Arkansas Rollin’ Razorbacks wheelchair basketball team. In 1993, I started a junior wheelchair basketball team in Little Rock, Arkansas and coached my son and other children with disabilities.

I first met Jim Hayes, the former Movin’ Mavs head coach, when he was recruiting some of my junior players at a tournament. In 2004, Coach Hayes recruited Tyler to play for the UT-Arlington Movin’ Mavs, and shortly after, I volunteered to be Coach Hayes’ assistant head coach. I came to UTA in 2007, and when Hayes passed away in 2008, I served as the interim head coach. I was later hired for the position as the head coach.

Selling our family business was one of the best decisions Becky and I have ever made. I have been blessed with wonderful family members and talented, coach-able players who are determined to succeed in academics and athletics. I want to have a positive impact in the community and advocate the value and benefits of adapted sports participation. My incentive will be to see increased opportunities for sport and recreation participation for young people with disabilities. I am proud to be the head coach of the Movin’ Mavs, the team that brings joy to my life each and every day.