Wichita Adaptive Sports was Life Changing for Wichita Teen

Frustration was clear for the Wichita Adaptive Sports organization at a clinic in 2011. The team organized the clinic to inform families about opportunities through sports for both kids and adults with disabilities — on the track, tennis court, swimming pool and more. But through a full eight-hour day only one kid showed up. 

“I remember saying to people in the organization, ‘I know we only had one kid show up, but trust me, I think this one will be special,’ ” said Nick Taylor, Paralympic wheelchair tennis medalist and vice president of Wichita Adaptive Sports. 

That one kid was Casey Ratzlaff, who just weeks ago returned to the U.S. after representing the country for the second time at the Paralympic Games. Ratzlaff was just 14 years old when he attended that fateful clinic, a moment that changed the trajectory of his life. 

“I was hugely fortunate and blessed with some of the people who I met very early in my career, Nick [Taylor] being one of those people. He helped push me in a direction that ultimately led to where I am today,” Ratzlaff said. “That moment in Wichita in the summer of 2011 at that adaptive sports clinic is where it all began.”

Ratzlaff was born with spina bifida and used a wheelchair from a young age. His dream as a kid was to become a professional athlete, and within just one year after he was introduced to wheelchair tennis, Ratzlaff was invited to compete on the Junior Wheelchair Tennis national team at the World Team Cup competition in Turkey. Since then, Ratzlaff has represented Team USA through back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016 at the Junior World Championships, earned a silver medal in doubles at the 2019 Parapan American Games, and competed in the 2020 and 2024 Paralympics. Since 2018, Ratzlaff has been the top-ranked U.S. man in wheelchair tennis and earned a career high ranking of 15 in the world for wheelchair tennis singles. 

“I love having the USA on my back, you always play a little harder and go the extra mile with the team on your back,” Ratzlaff said. “Team USA is filled with the most inspiring mentors and some of my closest friends.”

After experiencing his first Paralympic Games in Tokyo amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Ratzlaff said his experience in Paris was drastically different. 

“The amount of support that we had from the city and the people in France, it was incredible, and it was so fun to be in that environment,” Ratzlaff said. “It didn’t go as well as I wanted on the court in Paris, but I enjoyed every moment out there.” 

A Long Tradition of Paralympic Greatness

Ratzlaff is in good company, as Wichita is home to several athletes who have represented Team USA at past Paralympic Games: Nick Taylor has played wheelchair tennis in four Paralympic Games, earning three gold medals and one silver. He won his first Paralympic gold medal in wheelchair tennis doubles at the 2004 games in Athens. 

“The moment they put that medal around your neck and you’re watching the flag go up, it’s like all of the work and all of the time and effort — not only from you, but from all of the people who got you there — it literally played like a movie in my head as that flag was going up and the anthem started playing,” Taylor said. 

Taylor is one of the most decorated wheelchair tennis players in the world. In addition to his four Paralympic medals, Taylor is also an 11-time Grand Slam champion and spent more than 12 years ranked number one in the world in doubles and 11 years as top five in the world in singles. It was Taylor who first recognized Ratzlaff’s talent and potential, and he’s served as a mentor and friend ever since. 

“Nick was there — he’s the guy who first put me in a tennis chair and put a racket in my hand and he saw my natural ability,” Ratzlaff said. “He pushed me hard early on and saw my potential and helped me realize my own potential as well, and I can thank him for a lot of things I have in life.”

Taylor shares his passion through Wichita Adaptive Sports — a local organization that provides advocacy and resources through sports to people in Wichita living with physical disabilities. 

“I want Wichita Adaptive Sports to be an avenue where people feel invited to try, because the number one thing with any athlete — but especially with a disabled one — is getting them to try it in the first place,” Taylor said.

“For every sport that Wichita Adaptive Sports offers we have an extremely knowledgeable person coaching that sport; we have Paralympians teaching it.” — Nick Taylor, vice president, Wichita Adaptive Sports

In addition to spreading awareness about the Paralympics and opportunities through sport for people with physical disabilities, Wichita Adaptive Sports helps equip athletes with the necessary equipment to be successful. Taylor says a tennis wheelchair alone could cost thousands of dollars, but it’s imperative to the success of a wheelchair tennis player. 

“If you were to go out in your everyday wheelchair to play tennis it would be like going out and playing in your steel-toe boots,” Taylor said. “You need a specialized chair that is meant to go fast and turn and is lightweight. Unfortunately, adaptive equipment is very expensive.”

Taylor is just one of many decorated Paralympic athletes from the area who participates in the organization. Wayne Romero earned a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games and another bronze at the 2004 Games in Athens for quad rugby. Liz Willis represented Team USA at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio as a track athlete competing in the 100m, 200m and 400m races. Jordan Bird competed in the 400m, 800m and 1600m relay wheelchair track events at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. 

“For Wichita Adaptive Sports and the city of Wichita to have such a rich paralympic history, for not that big of a town, to have that many Paralympians with that much success, it means a great deal to me,” Taylor said. “For every sport that Wichita Adaptive Sports offers we have an extremely knowledgeable person coaching that sport, we have Paralympians teaching it.”

Other area Paralympians include Jarrett Perry, a swimmer who won gold in the 100m backstroke at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, and bronze in the same event at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Three-time Paralympic silver medalist swimmer Amanda Everlove also represented Wichita and Team USA in both the Beijing games in 2008 and the London games in 2012. 

While Ratzlaff and Taylor are now setting their sights on the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, a new wave of athletes are finding success through Wichita Adaptive Sports, with many more to come. 

“I would encourage parents — not only parents, but young people with disabilities — to not be afraid or limited by their inhibitions and to push themselves. You never know what you’re capable of until you go out and push yourself to try new things,” Ratzlaff said. 

You can learn more about Wichita Adaptive Sports and support their mission at their website, wichitaadaptivesports.org.