An inspiration for all: Travis Roy shows

Spaulding players nothing is impossible

By MARK QUIRK

Staff Sports Writer

ROCHESTER — The members of the Spaulding High School hockey team probably felt down after losing 6-0 to rival Dover in the Division II championship game.

Many of them changed their minds on Saturday after hearing the tragic but inspiring story of Travis Roy, a promising Division I college hockey player whose career came to a sudden end when he was paralyzed during a game.

Roy was the keynote speaker at the Red Raiders’ awards banquet held in the school cafeteria. He told the story of his rise to becoming one of the best high school players in the country and his misfortune on the ice when his college career came to a halt just 11 seconds after it began.

Still, Roy has managed to move on with his life and remains optimistic about what the future holds for him and what he’s capable of despite being confined to a wheelchair.

The message hit close to home for the 30 members of the Spaulding team.

"It makes you know you really don’t have it that tough," Spaulding senior captain Jake Moody said. "The championship meant nothing compared to what he’s gone through."

It was always a dream of Roy’s to play Division I hockey and that dream came true on Oct. 20, 1995 when he suited up for Boston University.

Just 11 seconds into his first shift, Roy went to check a defenseman while going for a loose puck in the corner. He missed his mark, lost his balance, and went head first into the boards, damaging his spine.

Ever since then he’s battled back from the injury through rehab.

He went back to school and graduated from BU, he still loves sports and has an even bigger passion now — cooking.

Roy spends most of his time doing motivational speaking, and audiences like the one he had on Saturday are his favorite to share his story with.

"I remember being at that age and hoping, and dreaming," Roy said. "If I can share this with other young men that have hopes and dreams it’s a good thing."

Some of the 10 graduating seniors hope to go to college next year, while others dream of playing in the junior hockey ranks. Roy’s words of keeping certain values like love, setting goals, respect, and family and friends close to you can only help them to achieve what they are setting out for.

"It touched me. He’s gone through so much, I like his values," senior captain Pat Webb said. "I feel really insignificant, really humbled."

"There were a lot of great things to take out of the speech he gave us like appreciating what you have and never taking anything for granted," senior captain Ryan Boston said. "There are some things I can take out of the speech that will improve my life."

Another inspiring message taken from Roy’s speech is how to deal with adversity. Roy certainly had plenty of it after being paralyzed and has done a remarkable job rebounding back to where he’s comfortable with himself.

The Red Raiders will have their own share of adversity to deal with next season. Spaulding graduates 10 seniors this year, one third of the team, so there will be a lot of work to do if they want to make it back to their fourth straight championship game.

"He certainly knows about adversity," Spaulding coach Paul George said. "With us losing as many players as we are, I think it’s a great topic to be spoken upon."

When Roy was in the eighth grade he set several goals for himself. Three of them were to play Division I hockey, play in the NHL, and play for the Olympic team.

Then his father made it clear to him that in order to do those he had to first stay in school. That "kind of burst my bubble," Roy said, so he added keeping a B average and breaking 1,000 on the SATs to his list.

Roy set his goals high and accomplished all of them that he could until his accident. Now he serves as an inspiration for the power of the human spirit and what can be accomplished through adversity.

"When I left (rehab) I realized with a little bit of time, and a little bit of energy, there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do," Roy said. "I couldn’t play hockey, but there was a lot of different things out there."