Don’t give up, even when you have every excuse to

By Julia Wolf

Matt Stutzman holds the world record for the farthest accurate archery shot. Oh, by the way, he doesn’t have arms.

Stutzman visited the Cadott Junior and Senior High, Feb. 9, to talk to students as part of A Walk in Their Shoes. A Walk in Their Shoes is a collaborative effort by North Central Wisconsin educators, who hope to put a personal face on current events, and provide middle and high school students with lessons that can impact their lives.

Stutzman is a three-time paralympian and won the silver medal in archery in the 2012 games. He set the Guinness World Record in 2015, by hitting a target at 310 yards, a record that holds today among all able-bodied archers.

Stutzman began by telling about the gold medal match of the 2012 paralympic games. He was loading his third arrow and his coach was counting down his time to shoot. Stutzman didn’t hear his coach count down the final two seconds and debated if he should take his eye off the target to check the clock.

“During this time, I had a little bit of reflection,” said Stutzman. “Like, how did a guy without arms get on the world’s largest stage, competing against people with hands?”

Stutzman was born without arms in 1982. His birth parents were told by doctors that it would cost millions of dollars to raise him and he would need help with everything for the rest of his life.

“I would never be able to do anything on my own,” said Stutzman.

That scared his birth parents and at three months old, he was put up for adoption. Stutzman was in an orphanage for a time, before he was adopted at 13 months old. He says he always wondered why someone would adopt a person with physical disabilities.

“It took me a long time to figure out why,” said Stutzman. He said, with a laugh, that it could be because they would never have to buy him gloves.

“The reality is, that they loved me for who I was and they decided to take me home,” said Stutzman.

Stutzman grew up on a farm with seven siblings. He says his parents made the decision when he was very young, to teach him how to adapt to the world, instead of the world adapting to him.

“Which means, they were willing to let me try anything I wanted to try,” said Stutzman.

Stutzman says he tried lots of things, with the goal to help him figure out how to be successful on his own, without relying on others.

When he was about 12, Stutzman decided he wanted to be a professional bull rider, and convinced his younger brother to go out to the pasture and catch the biggest bull on the farm. As the bull was eating feed out of a bucket, Stutzman climbed onto the bull’s back.

“As I’m sitting there, I realized that I have nothing to hold onto,” said Stutzman.

The two tied a rope around the bull’s belly and tied Stutzman’s sleeves to the rope. As they were getting ready to pull the feed away from the bull, Stutzman remembers seeing his dad run out of the house. He had never seen his dad run out of the house before, since his parents were always willing to let him try to figure out how to do stuff on his own, even if he would fail.

“I started to second-guess what I was trying to do,” said Stutzman.

He was just getting ready to tell his brother that the idea was maybe not smart, when his brother thought it would be fun to take a little shocker to the bull’s rump. The bull started bucking and kicking, and Stutzman went flying across the field. Stutzman says he remembers waking up on the ground, with no shirt on and his brother laughing. The shirt was still attached to the bull, who was running around the pasture.

“No one said anything about it, even at supper,” said Stutzman. “My parents didn’t, like, get mad at me. They didn’t scold me.” The next dad, Stutzman remembers telling his dad he didn’t think bull riding was his thing and that he wanted to be in the NBA. So, his parents got him a basketball and a hoop, and told him to practice. Stutzman taught himself how to play basketball, using his feet. He practiced for hours, over three or four years, but realized it was easy to steal from him and dribbling was difficult. Stutzman says he realized basketball wasn’t going to work for him either.

Then, he wanted to be a race car driver. Stutzman drives with his feet, with his right foot on the steering wheel and his left foot to run the gas and the brake.

“It wasn’t really until 2010, when I’m sitting at home with my two boys, and I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do with my life,” said Stutzman.

He says he couldn’t find a job. Then, he saw a guy on TV shooting a bow. Stutzman says he knew he could do that. So, he went to an archery store and bought a bow.

“I went out later that year, like after only a couple of months of shooting, I was successful, I harvested my first deer,” said Stutzman. “I remember the feeling it gave me, that I’m providing for my family.”

In January 2011, he went to his first archery tournament. He didn’t do very well, but got a call from the manufacturer offering a sponsorship. His friend pointed out that he didn’t get the sponsorship because he was good, but because he has no arms and draws attention to the product.

Stutzman knew his friend was right and, from that point on, started shooting for eight hours a day. He says he wanted people to recognize him as the best archer in the world, followed by the fact that he does it with no arms.

He told students he was not telling about his accomplishments and passing around his silver medal from the 2012 games to brag.

“My entire life, I was told I can’t do anything,” said Stutzman. “Guess what? I learned to take care of myself.”

He uses a normal fork, a normal toothbrush and can tie his own shoes. Stutzman says nothing in his house is modified. The most difficult daily task he faced, was changing his kids’ diapers when they were babies, but that got easier once he figured it out.

“I have had every excuse, if I wanted it, to quit,” said Stutzman.

Stutzman says everyone is the room with him, can see he has a challenge.

“However, everyone in this room, still has a challenge, whether it shows or not,” said Stutzman.

Stutzman says it is what they decide to do with that challenge, is what defines them and makes them who they are. He says he decided not to listen to what everybody said, have no excuses and go after it. That includes ignoring what bullies say.

He asked those in attendance to think about what their excuse is, when they come across something that feels impossible.

Stutzman says, if he, a guy with no arms, can shoot a bow, play basketball, drive a race car and tie shoes, then he is a prime example of being able to do anything they put their minds to. He encourages everyone to put in the time, put in the effort and says they can accomplish their dreams.

“Life is what you make it,” said Stutzman.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="243"] Matt Stutzman, three-time paralympian in archery, demonstrated to Cadott students, Feb. 9, how he taught himself to shoot a basketball, by challenging a student to a game of Pig. Stutzman used his feet to shoot and was able to catch passes with his upper body. He also showed students how he is able to tie his own shoes with his feet. Photo by Julia Wolf[/caption]