Good sport.

Nine-year-old Ryan Nelson of Sandy, Utah, pitches and plays infield for the Holladay Baseball League's Devil Rays (Sandy and Holladay are suburbs of Salt Lake City). His participation would be unremarkable, were it not that Ryan was born with spina bifida, a serious congenital defect in which part of one or more vertebrae fails to develop completely, leaving a portion of the spinal cord exposed. In relatively non-severe cases, surgery can close the defect and preclude further spinal cord damage. Ryan has most of the feeling in his legs, but they are not strong enough to support him and he cannot use his feet. He must field and run bases on his knees, so has become adept at "scooching" (sitting on his legs and using his arms to shuttle himself along).

Ryan bats for himself, but a rules adjustment allows him to have a pinch runner run to first base when he hits the ball. From there he is on his own. Needless to say, he is often walked due to his tiny strike zone, and also reaches first base regularly after being hit by pitches.

His mother, Libbie, describes her son as "a pretty good pitcher." Indeed, she contends, he is one of his team's "better pitchers. He's not real fast but he has a good sinker that no one can hit."

Ryan developed his love for the game while playing catch with his older brother, Samson. He also has a younger sister, Olivia, and brother, Isaac. By the time he was four, according to his father, and Devil Rays coach, Wayne Nelson, "all Ryan wanted was a coach and a jersey."

He hoped to launch his little league career before last year, but in a June 30th Deseret Morning News profile his father recalled that he and Mrs. Nelson "postponed [allowing Ryan to play] baseball a year longer because we ... didn't know how he was going to do it. He wants to play football, and I think about how will he do this and how will he do that, and he says, 'Let's play.' We work it out as we do it." Ryan recently told Salt Lake City's KSL-TV, "I felt like I could do it, and I just started. I'm getting a lot better."

Libbie Nelson told the Morning News that she "wouldn't do [what Ryan does] for a million dollars, but he wants to play and he loves it." About his "scooching," she says "it probably feels weird to us, but that's how his body works. It's much more natural for him that way than to use crutches."

In addition to baseball, Ryan plays golf with his dad and grandfather and participates in sled hockey and wheelchair basketball with teams in the Salt Lake Valley. He also skis, plays night games with friends, and looks forward to learning how to play flag football, tennis, and lacrosse. "There's not too much I can't do," he told the Morning News. His best friend, Garret Hansen, says "it just seems like wow, he can do a lot more stuff than you think he could; and you think they would be mean to him because he's different, but they're not."

Wayne Nelson agrees that "everyone has been very supportive." He recalls telling officials last year, when Ryan began playing for the Devil Rays, "'My son is handicapped and we're not exactly sure how we're going to do this but we're going to try.' All the coaches said whatever you need to do is great." Mrs. Nelson told the Morning News that "after a few times around the bases or a few pitches, everyone is just cheering him on." Ryan "doesn't think 'I'm handicapped, I can't play sports.' He sees a sport and wants to play. He loves it." At times, he wishes he did not have his disability, but he "doesn't feel sorry for himself very long. It's OK to wish and then we forget about it."

Ryan's achievements are not limited to the sports world. He also loves math and reading, finished second in his school's second-grade spelling bee, and is active in Cub Scouts. He hopes to compete in the Paralympics some day, and wants to become a veterinarian. He also plans to attend Arizona State University "because they have a wheelchair basketball team."