Rick Slaughter's bio

As a child Rick was gifted with athletic ability. He excelled in whatever sport he tried. It seemed to come naturally to him, and through training and hard work he won many awards, accolades, and tournaments in all types of sports. At age 14 Rick was one of the top ranked tennis players in the state of Tennessee, and was planning to attend Lipscomb University and play on the men’s tennis team, which just so happened to be coached by his father!

That never happened…………………………..

On June 22, 1979, at the age of 17, Rick Slaughter was involved in a car crash that changed his life forever.  As a result of the crash, Rick was paralyzed from the waist down and had to face living the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Presented with new obstacles and challenges in his life, Rick decided that he was going to make the most of it and live his life to the fullest.  After completing an extensive rehabilitation program, Rick graduated from high school in 1980. After graduating Rick was introduced to wheelchair basketball, and became a member of Music City Lightning. Through his association with basketball Rick learned about a new sport; wheelchair tennis! In 1981, he competed in his first wheelchair tennis tournament in Tampa, Florida, and from that point forward, there was no stopping him.

In 1983, Rick traveled to Europe and helped establish wheelchair tennis in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Holland.  From 1984 through 1992, Rick was ranked in the top 3 of wheelchair tennis players in singles and #1 in doubles in the United States.  In 1997, Rick became a racquetball world champion as he won the World Racquetball Championships in Phoenix, Arizona.  In addition to his achievements in the sports world, Rick began selling durable medical equipment in 1990 with a special emphasis on custom wheelchairs and seating.  Through the years, he talked with children that he fitted for wheelchairs and found out these children and youth were not participating in any recreational or independent skill building activities.  After researching local services for youth with disabilities, he realized that there were no opportunities for wheelchair-using youth to learn the importance of complete independence while at the same time enjoying the thrill of wheelchairs sports. Thus, Rick saw an opportunity – to start a program that would get kids in wheelchairs involved in sports to improve physical fitness and to learn independent living skills.  In 1997, the program became reality.

In March 2003, after allowing other non-profits to run the program, Rick was moved to take a leap of faith and make ABLE Youth its’ own non-profit entity. In June of 2003 ABLE Youth received notice it was now officially noticed as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. The board was formed, all necessary permits obtained, and the rest is history! 

With God’s guidance, and the help of many dedicated supporters, ABLE Youth continues to thrive and flourish as a program to teach children in wheelchairs how to live healthy, happy, spiritual, and independent lives……