This month’s spotlight is Shay out of San Diego, California! Shay has received two Active Fund grants over the last several years, first for a basketball wheelchair and second for an adaptive surfboard.

Shay grew up in Wisconsin where he sustained his injury. He then went five years without trying any adaptive sports. “This was so life changing!” he describes. “I started enjoying life again.”

“I have tried just about every adaptive sport out there,” he says. He has tried golf, bowling, rugby, softball, and skiing, but his main sports are tennis, basketball, and surfing. “If it is available around me, I’ll give it a shot!” he says. 

Since he moved to California, Shay says that he discovered that surfing is his calling. With his new custom adaptive surfboard, Shay hopes to work his way to the paralympics. “It’s a long hard road, but one I am willing to do.” As a quadriplegic, Shay worked closely with the surfboard shaper (industry lingo for person who builds a surfboard) to make sure all of the specs fit his specific needs, like tons of handles, proper fin placements, body groove placements, padding, holders for his legs and hips, materials, etc. “Being able to fabricate a board to all of the specific specs I need is absolutely crucial to being able to perform at the best of my ability and thus keeping up with my competition,” he explains. He said that he is still getting used to the new board, but it has been a game changer already and he’s looking forward to seeing what limits he can push with it.

“Surfing has completely changed my life,” Shay says. “I feel a rush of freedom every time I hit the waves.” Shay talks about his “brothers on waves,” saying “the comradery I get with my peers out on the water is also like none other.” 

With the ASA adaptive surfing world tour, Shay gets to travel around the world to places like Australia, Hawaii, Costa Rica and Oceanside. He has spent the winter competing in some Western Surfing Association tournaments at his local beaches. Wish Shay luck as he competes in June with Team USA in hopes of competing at the ISA worlds this year. Shay’s goal “is to go as far as I can, which is ultimately the paralympics.” The KBF is excited to cheer him along every stage of the journey!