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Alyssa Lynch gets ready to shoot at a recent practice at the Clayton Community Center. Gartin, a retired Marine and Raleigh police officer, also coaches his son’s team in McGee’s Crossroads. His goals don’t change from one group of kids to the other. “I just like to come out here and have fun,” he said. “It’s my No. 1 goal that we work hard, learn some life lessons and have some fun. These kids work hard to be involved in a sport — an organized team sport at that. “My little girl’s on the team and she had asked for years to get involved in some type of organized team sport. Basketball was the choice. We found out about the organization and we signed up.” As fate would have it, soon after the Gartins joined up, the program found itself in need of a new coach. Gartin threw himself into learning the ins and outs of the wheelchair game, and found that the games are relatively similar. “The rules are almost identical, with the exception of the amount of time you can propel the chair and dribble” he said. “The contact fouls are almost identical. I would say these kids have a harder time trying to get up and down the court. They probably work harder than kids playing in a (typical) league. “They needed a coach, and I said, ‘why not,’” he said. “Not knowing a lot about wheelchair basketball (at the time), I know hustle. And these kids work hard. You can’t put a price on seeing the satisfaction on their face when they get out here and compete. To me it’s worth its weight in gold.” For more on Revolution Adaptive Sports, or to make a donation, contact Lynch at revolutionadaptivesports@gmail.com. 18 | JOHNSTON NOW