Greenwood athlete demonstrates the power of perseverance
By Valorie Brecht It takes a lot of dedication and effort to be successful as a student-athlete. When a studentathlete has a physical impairment, it makes success that much more challenging. However, it also makes it that much more rewarding.
Case in point: Greenwood High School senior Andy Mitchell has not let his disability stop him from competing in and enjoying the sport of basketball. Mitchell was born with a severe visual impairment, with 20/100 vision in his good eye.
“Anything that someone with 20/20 vision could see 10 feet away, I’d have to be 5 feet away from it to see it or read it,” Mitchell explained.
For anything smaller than a 24-point font, Mitchell has to use a magnifying glass to read it. He also has no peripheral vision, meaning he can only see a narrow field directly in front of him.
“It makes it pretty hard to see what teammates are on the court and what numbers they have on,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell’s visual impairment made it that much more impressive when he landed a 3-point basket in Greenwood’s Feb. 16 home game versus Loyal, the last conference game of the season and senior night.
“Before the game, I was just talking with the coach, making sure that I knew exactly what I had to do in that situation to make the basket or be ready to shoot it. I’m very grateful for my coach helping me,” said Mitchell.
“Before I got put in, I was really nervous and I made sure that I didn’t doubt myself and I told myself that as long as I keep trying and working hard, I can do my best and make the shot. And I got it on my second attempt.”
Just over a minute and a half into the game, Mitchell caught a bounce pass from near the top of the arc and sent it up for nothing but net, for his first basket during a varsity game.
“It felt great. I couldn’t believe it when I made it. I honestly thought it was going to be an air ball, because of how high I shot it,” said Mitchell.
The crowd erupted, with the student section on their feet, cheering and waving a poster with Mitchell’s name. Greenwood coach Hayden Hinker called a timeout and the team rushed the court, teammate James Durrstein lifting Mitchell high in the air to celebrate, the excitement equal to what one might see if the team won the state championship.
“It was really neat to see,” said school athletic director Jenni Mayenschein.
Mitchell’s completed basket was the result of his commitment to the sport he started playing in seventh grade. He was initially hesitant to try a sport because he was afraid of getting hurt. But, in the end, he decided to go for it and make adaptations as necessary to help him be successful. For example, although he has no depth perception to see how far away the hoop is, he’s gotten better at gauging the amount of force he has to exert to reach the basket if he’s standing at the free throw line, for example.
In eighth grade, Mitchell moved to the Greenwood School District. Ryan Joten served as his social studies teacher and basketball coach.
“One of the biggest adaptations we utilized in practice was to emphasize bounce passes when running our offense, doing drills, etc.,” wrote Joten in an email. “(This was) partially due to bounce passes being a valuable skill to learn, and also because the sound of the ball bouncing on the floor helped Andy track it. He also had a ball with a small bell in it so he could use it during some drills until his skills improved to where he could perform some tasks without the bell assistance.”
Joten said that over the course of Mitchell’s eighth grade season, he showed “noticeable” improvement in dribbling, passing and shooting.
“Bigger than that though was persevering through considerable physical limitations to improve in measurable ways, supporting the idea that his disability can be overcome,” wrote Joten.
“Andy is a very kind, pleasant and enjoyable young man to teach and coach. He has always had a very positive attitude,” he added. “He loves basketball, and he has spent a lot of time working to improve. Knowing he has earned that achievement is a great thing for him, our school, community and other people with physical limitations that have dreams and aspirations.”
Mitchell’s school involvement is not limited to the basketball court. He sings in the high school choir and has achieved honor roll status. He also competes in track and field, in the 400-meter dash, 800-meter run, 1-mile run and long jump. Initially, he was concerned about staying in his lane when he ran, but he talked to his coach, who communicated with the referees to make sure they understood Mitchell’s situation.
“He doesn’t let blindness slow him down. And like he had said, he’s learned to ask people for what he needs for him to succeed and for them to succeed too, as a teammate,” said Mayenschein.
“Andy is fun to coach, always positive (and) works hard. He is an inspiration to his teammates… Always a pleasure to coach,” said Eric Johnson, Greenwood JV coach.
Mitchell is undecided on his future plans, but is considering attending college to study engineering. He’s determined not to let his visual impairment hold him back from doing things he enjoys.
“It’s harder for me to do things, but I know that, in a general sense, everyone is trying as hard as they can and if I do my best, it’s no different than anyone else,” he said.
He offered a word of encouragement to those dealing with any sort of disability or physical limitation.
“The best advice I can give is, if you know your weakness, that is your strongest ability. It’s being able to know what you are bad at and what you are good at. And make sure you don’t doubt yourself for too long, because the longer you doubt yourself, the more you’re gonna feel like you can’t do something. You’ll never know if you can or can’t, until you do it.”
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Andy Mitchell is part of the Greenwood basketball program. He has learned ways to be successful on the court despite having a severe visual impairment.
