82616-(1).jpgI’m sitting at home and I wanted to pen a blog to recap the summer and keep everyone up to date with personal ongoing and exciting things happening. To begin with, I have made the decision to forego going back over to Europe to play basketball this season. I’ve spent the last 10 years living by the changing of the leaves in New England. As soon as the leaves begin to change colors, I’m grabbing a passport and I’m off to begin my next basketball season. I want to personally thank each team that has given me the tremendous honor to play the sport I love and see the world. I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Europe as I continue my camps overseas and support their growing junior programs. However, I look forward to new opportunities while the Ryan Martin Foundation continues to expand. I will spend the fall playing for the New York Rolling Knicks of the NWBA while being deeply involved with projects that look to grow wheelchair basketball at the collegiate and professional ranks! I will use other blog posts to discuss the exciting new developments that are on the horizon for wheelchair basketball in the United States. For now, I just want to say thank you for the opportunities to play overseas and what that has given me. It’s been an experience I couldn’t have dreamt of as a child and now I hope that I can pay it forward and allow other young men and women to carve out their own goals and dreams through sports. If my life is to be a book, I can only hope my playing career is a small chapter and what I can do for others becomes the overwhelming narrative to my story.

RMF Summer Recap: What a whirlwind summer for the Ryan Martin Foundation! Once again we bounced all over the place and had great camps. It’s always a pleasure to see old faces, meet some new ones, and work with great athletes. I’m so proud to have this opportunity and I can’t say thank you enough to the folks who make this all possible. All of the programs are free of charge to the athletes; without the support of countless sponsors, none of this would be possible. I want to take a moment and thank Mike Mowry, specifically, from Numotion. His support has been great, making sure all of the athletes have equipment in order to participate during the camps. Seems wherever RMF goes he is there with wrenches, airing up tires, and rebounding for some of the athletes! I greatly appreciate his support and that of Numotion for all that they have done over the past few years in allowing us to have quality equipment for every athlete along the way.

Social media mail bag: I’m super excited because when I started to write this blog, I wanted feedback from readers. One of those few reasons - I hoped some people would actually read the blog! Secondly, I would like to be source of information/ and advice when needed!

The first question came in the form of a direct message on Instagram. I was asked about the wheels I have on my every day chair?

The answer: One of the perks of being Ryan is that I often am able to get my hands on new equipment before it goes public and made available for purchase. I recently got my hands on a set of SoftWheels and admittedly thought, all wheels are the same, what’s the big deal?! I was pleasantly surprised with the SoftWheels for two reasons. First, was the performance! Jumping curbs, pushing through more rugged terrain, and basically allowing me to go anywhere I wanted to go with a smoother ride. All I've ever wanted from a chair is to be able to do what I need it to do, even if that includes hopping stairs and going up and down escalators! These wheels allow me to do that with more comfort than ever. The second reason why I have fallen in love with these wheels is the look of them. They look sharp and classy! Highly recommend giving SoftWheels a try!

What’s coming up next for RMF: My junior team will begin practice October 22 at the Hospital for Special Care. We are excited to begin our second year, and in a later blog I will release the schedule for the RMF junior team including our second annual Holiday Jamboree as well as our tournaments in other cities! Updates will also be posted on www.ryanmartinfoundation.org.

Paul Weiland will also be starting a women’s program here in CT for any ladies who are looking to join a team in the Northeast. Please feel free to reach out to him via email for more information paul.weiland@oakhillct.org.

Also, any kids who will be looking to play basketball in the Philadelphia area and the New York area both of the junior programs are looking for players to join existing teams. Please feel free to email me at ryan@ryanmartinfoundation.org for more information check out the latest media link from camp in NY/NJ! pix11.com/2016/08/31/its-a-g-thing-wheelchair-athletes-get-unique-opportunity-at-basketball-camp-chance-to-represent-team-usa.

Thanks as always for the reading the blog and reaching out via social media for comments and questions! Regards, Ryan

Ryan Martin, Guest Blogger

Author

Ryan Martin, Guest Blogger