Perrysburg Messenger Journal Article by Deb Buker 2/17/10

Hi everyone,

There is an article in the Perrysburg, Ohio newspaper today, The Perrysburg Messenger Journal (http://www.perrysburg.com/) about Nick and his wrestling at Perrysburg High School. The article is written by Deb Buker and she did a wonderful job with it! I tried to see if I could find a link to the article and there is only a small part of the article on their web site and it says you can subscribe to the paper to see the full article. I wish I could find some way to post the entire article on the blog! If I do find a way, I will. Unfortunately, I can only post the following part of the article which is on their web site right now. Thanks so Deb Buker for listening and taking an interest in Nick and our family! Below is what I can find so far from the article:

‘I want to be challenged and pushed to my limits’
PHS student Nick Hyndman takes to the wrestling mat–Unusual? Yes, Nick has CP
Since sixth grade, Perrysburg High School junior Nick Hyndman has had a dream–to participate in a high school sport, to be a Yellow Jacket athlete.
Sports are his passion. With hard work, practice and determination, a dream of being on a high school athletic team is attainable for most students. And the high school junior certainly has a good work ethic and motivation, but unlike most high school athletes, Nick has a disability. At five months old, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
“The reason I call it a dream is because of my disability. Realistically, I am not good enough to compete at the level of the kids on school teams,” the high school student wrote last fall in a classroom assignment. “But, I believe that I do have the ability to compete in more advanced leagues than I’m in now. I want to be challenged and pushed to my limits, so it’s hard to find a league that’s the perfect amount of challenge for me.
“Ever since I’ve had this dream, I’ve tried doing some research. I’ve tried to find people who had physical disabilities and actually played in a sport for their schools. As a result of my research, I found two cases where a teen in high school actually had the ability to play on a team. One guy who I saw in person, Steven Klorer, was on the Clay High School wrestling team, and he had spina bifida and had no use of his legs. The other guy played a defense position in football and he didn’t have any legs.
“So, after I did my research, I’ve told myself ever since, ‘if they can do it, why can’t I?’ I am still chasing after this dream, at the moment, I am very close to pursuing it. I want to be on my school’s wrestling team. The coaches are fine with it and the only thing that is standing in the way is I have to get my doctor’s approval. Hopefully, he gives me a chance.”

Blessings:)
Amy