When Trashaun Willis, a penguin athlete from the small town of Washington in east Iowa, attracted national attention a few years ago when videos of his eighth grade mates circulated online, he opened up with his athletic goals.
He sought to play sports at school. Basketball, football, it didn’t matter, I was just looking to be a school athlete.
Now Willis, who has a 6-foot 5-inch, 245-pound athlete, has reached his goal.
Recently, the senior chose one of his favorites from Lamar Division I, an FCS program in Texas. He also has Donations from Division III Loras in Dubuque and NAIA William Penn, St. Ambrose and Grand View.
“I feel like I have to continue,” said Willis, who added that he planned to make a resolution until the end of January. “My dream isn’t over yet. I need to keep betting and check to be successful as much as possible. “”
Although he was 6-3 at the time, Willis’ dreams of school athletics a few years ago seemed noble. He doesn’t have a left arm.
He had a condition called amniotic band syndrome in his mother’s uterus. One of the thread-shaped fibrous bands in your mother’s amniotic fluid wrapped around your arm in the uterus, delaying the expansion above the elbow downwards.
James Harris didn’t care. Washington’s chief football coach saw something special in Willis’ infrequent mix of length and athletics, and named Willis his half-beginner supporter at the time. That year, Willis had 54 tackles and five solo tackles for defeat and two interceptions, one of which a pick-six.
As a junior, he recorded 47. 5 tackles, tackled alone by defeat and interception.
And as a senior this year, he recorded 37. 5 tackles, 8 solo tackles for loss and pick-six. He passed for 907 yards and 12 touchdowns and ran for 523 yards and thirteen more points.
“We all see the child with one arm, but I also see the 6-foot-5- and 245-pounder,” Harris said. “I don’t have many in the elegance of 3A Iowa, and it hits you with each and every piece. . He’s strong and he got a reduced body. I only knew, as a competitor, who I was. Size is a big quick contraction is a big problem. And I think, as he pointed out, to have excessive athletic talent in others. the spaces actually served him well.
“One of our mantras is ‘magic at work’, and I think Trashaun embodies it. I can exercise a lot of special kids, but he’s incredibly talented. A child with no excuses. He’s worked for everything he’s got, and it’s wonderful to see that procedure come true. “
Willis’ national attention came here with responsibility. Now it’s a role-playing style for other young, lacking members looking to compete.
He developed a bond with one of these children in the spring of eighth grade. Jayce Crowder was five years old when Willis’ story attracted national attention. He was born with the maximum of his left arm, just like Willis. Willis and her mother met Jayce and her mom at Washington Middle School, and gave Jayce a blouse that read, “Ten hands are overrated. “They’ve both been in touch ever since.
Willis appreciates the way he has a role model and knows that duty will only grow once he is a school athlete.
“I love it. I like to feel like I have to say anything to people,” he said. “Just to keep inspiring people, keep betting on football, keep doing what I love, keep having fun. That’s all that matters. “
Willis said most of the schools that recruited him assigned him as an outdoor supporter who would specialize in the quick passage. St. Ambrose is the only school that hired him as a quarterback.
“(College coaches) just say they like the fact that I’m a wonderful body,” Willis said. “They say I can move my hips well and I’m athletic, and they can’t teach the size. And they like the way I’m competitive and I like to fill in the gaps and pass. I’m just putting my frame on the line. “
Harris believes that whoever wins Willis will get an athlete who adjusts the programs.
“How can it not contribute to the culture you’re looking to create at your school?He’s a wonderful athlete. It overcomes adversity,” Harris said. ” Those who say they can and those who say they can’t, he’s probably right. He’s just a kid who said, “I can. “He never cared about what he might not do; was involved in what he could do. And I think we’re all stuck in that in other friends and I think there’s a wonderful lesson to learn there. To do this, you can find a way. Adapt your game to what it is. Fly with your strength. “