Cerebral Palsy

Wheelchair sports have been a large part of the energetic youth's life for only a few years, but in that short time, he has achieved what most athletes only dream of – a national record.Advertisement Watts competed with Team St.

Luke's last summer in Tampa, Fla., and came away with a national record for his class in the pentathlon, a combination of shot put, discus, javelin, 800-meter run and 100-meter sprint.

When asked how he felt about it, Watts smiles shyly and shrugs it off.

"It was pretty cool," he sayswith a downward glance.Watts began wheelchair sports after encouragement by Bill Kemp, chemistry and science teacher and cross country coach at Riverside High School, and Teresa Skinner, a coach for Team St.

Luke's."Kids with disabilities don't grow up thinking they can be athletes; they don't see it in the media.

The worst-attended Para Olympics ever were the last ones hosted in the U.S.

They weren't even televised," Skinner said.

"To break through and get these kids involved is hard."But break through, Kemp and Skinner did.

Watts began playing basketball and then joined the cross country and track teams at RHS.

"Once (kids) become part of a high school team, (they) feel like (they) can do a team situation," Skinner said.This sense of belonging to a team helped ...

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