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Barrels of fun
By JACKIE RIPLEY, Times Staff Writer ODESSA -- There was a time when Larry Ramirez had a self-destructive streak so wide, he knew better than to keep a loaded gun around the house. It was also a time when the only thing competing with his addictions was his recklessness. But "I turned myself around, cleaned up my life," said Ramirez, who was paralyzed in a construction accident. "Now I take life as it comes and don't take anything for granted." In that spirit, Ramirez took part in last week's Trapshoot 2002 at the Silver Dollar Trap Club. The Florida Gulf Coast Paralyzed Veterans of America holds these trapshoots to raise money for activities in support of paralyzed veterans. The third annual event, held Tuesday through Thursday, attracted 150 competitors from around the nation. "It's designed to demonstrate the ability of wheelchair trapshooters to compete with able-bodied trapshooters on an even playing field," said Paul Wolbert, executive director for the yearly event. The Silver Dollar tournament was the third stop of eight on the Paralyzed Veterans of America "Trap Trail." The sport requires fast reflexes and a sharp eye over mobility and strength. "It makes people aware of what the disabled can do in sports," said Gus Farnum, chapter president. Ramirez knows full well how much the disabled can accomplish in sports. He works as sports director for the Wisconsin Paralyzed Veterans of America. He was injured when he was 32 and is now 51. "I've done more with my life in a wheelchair than I did before," he said. And now, not only does he feel confident keeping guns around the house, he's not half bad on the trapshoot trail. "I'm off the bottom rung and now on the second rung, working my way up," said Ramirez, who has been trapshooting for 12 years. Ramirez credits wife Joan with helping him defeat his drug and alcohol addictions. "She stuck with me and didn't give up," he said. "If not for her, I don't know where I'd be." One place he most likely would not have been was in Odessa last week enjoying the spring weather and camaraderie. "It's not like other competitions," said Randy Pleva, a veteran from West Virginia who was wounded by shrapnel in Vietnam. Several years later, a coal mining accident in West Virginia caused the shrapnel to shift, costing Pleva the use of his legs. "If you see somebody's shooting wrong, they'll say this or that, same way it was in the service. You see somebody in trouble, you help. I guess that's the difference between veterans and nonveterans." The differences between the paralyzed vets and their counterparts faded when the competition got fierce. Wheelchair trapshooters are treated no differently than shooters on two legs. "A lot of these guys are extremely tough," said John Wojnar, an able-bodied trapshooter from Michigan who has been at the sport for 25 years. "We're equal," Ramirez said. "I get to sit and they have to stand." Trapshooting differs from skeet shooting in that the targets do not always follow the same trajectory. In trapshooting, a house in the middle of the course releases targets -- one at a time, or two at a time for doubles -- in a variety of directions. The shooter, positioned 16 yards from the house, shoots five shots from each of five locations. Better shooters are forced to move farther from the house, as far as 27 feet. "It's a unique sport in that it attracts a lot of able bodied" as well as wheelchair athletes, said Bruce Scott, national director of sports and recreation for the PVA's Washington, D.C., office. "You can participate as if you've never been injured." -- Jackie Ripley can be reached at (813) 269-5308 or ripley@sptimes.com.
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From the Times |
