If you are any kind of sports fan I’m certain there are times when you’ve been to an event, witnessed something outstanding and was motivated or inspired by the accomplishment.

It might be as simple as a player fighting through adversity and coming out on top.

Recently I was fortunate enough to watch a group of men and women compete at the highest level for their sport and walked away in awe.

It was the sport of long drive and most golfers will tell you they are blown away by the length these hitters achieve when smacking the daylights out of a golf ball.

Drives upwards of 340 yards are normal during this slugfest which leaves many people shaking their heads at the end.

Now I watched in amazement as hitter after hitter got up, stuck a tee in the ground, placed the ball on top, reared back and let ‘er rip.

Oh, one other thing about this competition down in Mesquite, Nevada in October. Each one of these men and women was missing an arm, a leg, both legs, their eyesight or not able to use their legs at all.

It was the ParaLong Drive World championship with athletes from Canada, the U.S.A., Europe, South Africa, Australia and Israel.

The shortest drive I saw was 199 yards courtesy of a man in a wheelchair. The winner was a giant of a man from Tennessee, missing both legs, who smashed one drive 360 yards.

Last year he nailed a drive of 409 yards so I suppose he let up on this one.

Another man from South Africa, using what looked like a bumper car with hydraulic lifts to get him ‘standing’ banged one out at 289 yards.

The common denominator in all of this action was how excited each one of these people was when it came time to hit.

There was plenty of camaraderie and some good natured ribbing going on.

It was also a perfect display of how these amputees showed what they can do and not what they can’t.

If you were there and didn’t feel inspired and humbled at the same time I would be very surprised.

You couldn’t help but be amazed at what each one of the athletes there accomplished.

They took the competition side very seriously and were just as involved in the sportsmanship aspect of the event.

I will never hit the ball as far as some of these folks but I sure can take away a lesson about how to knock down a barrier or two moving forward.

sports@reddeerexpress.com