Casey Ratzlaff reaches national level in wheelchair tennis
If he chose to, Casey Ratzlaff would have a pretty good excuse for just about anything.
The 14-year-old Wichita native was born with spina bifida, a birth defect that has forced him to use crutches or a wheelchair his entire life.
Ratzlaff traveled to Turkey in late May to represent the United States on the junior team at the World Team Cup, a competition for the best wheelchair tennis players in the world.
There’s no time for excuses when you’re on the fast track for competing in the U.S. Paralympics.
“I’ve never considered myself different in this world,” Ratzlaff said. “I have this disability, yeah, but hating yourself for having that disability is only going to make it worse. Instead you have to go out there and find out what you can do and show people that you don’t care about your disability.”
Family inspiration
Casey is the second-youngest child of four in the Ratzlaff family, and the only with a disability.
What makes him different is what makes him the rock of the family.
“He’s been an inspiration to all of us,” said Craig Ratzlaff, his father. “He doesn’t complain. He doesn’t ever question how God made him. It’s just who he is. How he goes about life is a motivation to all of us.”
When somebody doesn’t want to go mow the lawn or do the dishes, they think about the obstacles Casey clears every day with a positive attitude.
“He’s just a very selfless guy,” said Taylor Ratzlaff, Casey’s 20-year-old brother. “He doesn’t let his disability get to him at all. He wants to be him and he’s not worried about all that. That’s what is great about him.”
No one has been affected more by Casey than his older brother, who is a sophomore on the Central Missouri football team.
Taylor fulfills the stereotype of a football player, big and strong, standing 6-foot-3 with a muscular 230-pound frame. But he says the strongest player he knows isn’t anyone on the football team.
“Honestly, I would say it’s Casey,” Taylor said. “He motivates me to use everything that I have to be the best that I can be. It’s why I do this. He helps me keep a higher standard of who I am. I’m extremely proud to say he’s my younger brother.”
Turkey time
Three years ago, Casey didn’t know playing tennis in a wheelchair was a possibility.
Then he attended an exhibition at Maize South Middle School put on by Nick Taylor, a Wichita native who is a three-time gold medalist in the Paralympics.
After watching Casey for the first time, Taylor met with him and his mother after the demonstration . He told them about the World Team Cup and said he thought Casey could play in it if he worked at it.
“I think that day they thought I was crazy,” Taylor said. “You can spot an athlete pretty quick after years of doing this and I could tell he was an athlete.”
From the first hit, it was an instant connection Casey felt with tennis. After that, it was natural that Taylor shifted into a mentor role.
“When I discovered that Nick had won all these medals, it just kind of sparked a fire,” Casey said. “I thought it would be cool if someday I won as many medals as him and travel all around the world like him.”
After only a year of serious work, Casey was selected for the World Team Cup. At 14, he was the youngest member of the U.S. team.
In his lone match in the competition, he teamed with Chris Herman to sweep their opponents from Tanzania 6-0, 6-1.
But the moment that his father will always remember from the experience is when Casey was watching older players warm up .
“He said, ‘Dad, I want to be that guy someday,’” Craig said. “He wants to go to the Paralympics. He wants to get better. There’s nothing stopping him.”
What’s next
This fall, Casey Ratzlaff, a freshman, will be a member of the Maize tennis team. He will compete in a wheelchair and play against able-bodied players.
“You don’t see a wheelchair tennis player on a high school tennis team every day,” Casey said with a laugh. “It’s really cool to know that I’m going to be one of the only wheelchair tennis players in the nation on a tennis team. It’s going to be a really cool experience.”
He expects to compete.
His coach, Jeff Clark, is amazed with Ratzlaff’s progress already.
“He doesn’t feel like there’s anything he can’t do,” Clark said. “It’s very surprising to me in the last three months how quickly he’s picked up on some very difficult things. He’s already doing some of the most difficult shots in the game.”
His coaches think he is destined to play tennis in the Paralympics. His dad thinks he could also go in skiing after discovering on a family trip to Colorado that he has another natural talent.
“When we went, he is going down the (expert level) hills and we couldn’t keep up with him,” Craig said.
Casey still has several years before any of those goals become realistic. Right now they’re only dreams, but that has never stopped him before.
No excuses.
“Basically I want to keep improving and rise up the ranks,” Casey said. “I want to keep working and maybe someday I’ll be the No. 1 player. But really I just want to become the player I know I can and then I think I’ll be happy.”
This story was originally published June 11, 2013 at 11:27 AM with the headline "Casey Ratzlaff reaches national level in wheelchair tennis."