“I know that God has blessed me. I never had a job I didn’t like.”By Michael JordanI guess most boys have their heroes. Mine were martial artist Bruce Lee and master batsman Rohan Kanhai. But as I grew older, I realised that there were other heroes in my life who were right within my reach.There was my brother, Vibart, with his incredible zest for life despite his handicaps. There was my father, who educated himself despite growing up without a father, and in poverty.And looming large as a hero is Leon Walcott; former teacher, sports organiser and coach, journalist, small businessman, and spokesperson for the disabled.Mr. Walcott was born on August 12, 1949 at Enmore Estate, East Coast Demerara. But from age two to 12 he lived at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, with his aunt, Ivy Patterson, and uncle.Mr. Walcott has his own company, Communication ConceptYou could say that Mr. Walcott (‘Wally’ to close friends) had challenges from the moment he entered this world.He was born with peroneal muscular atrophy, which causes the muscles to waste away. It has now left him unable to walk unaided and partially paralysed in one hand. He was also born with an excessively curved spine.But the aunt he grew up with was always telling him how special he was.“Were it not for my friends and peers, and a mirror, I would not have known I had a hunchback. My aunt, Ivy Patterson, never mentioned it, and always told me ‘boy you bright, you will be somebody important.’ And she kept saying this thing to me all the time.”“My aunt and uncle had a son,Cheap Sports Jerseys, but there was no distinction made between us. We were treated equally, treated with respect. My uncle was a remarkable man in his own quiet way. We were the only two boys in the whole of that Diamond scheme who were free to stay out as long as we wanted. We would play in pastures, play in trenches, steal the white people’s cane; catch crabs, catch fish…put it on a stick and roast it, anything that boys would do.“These things build your self-confidence. As a country boy you face a lot of challenges. I remember running from an alligator, and a boy holding me and we galloping down the dam.”Of course, some friends teased him ‘mercilessly’ about his ‘hunchback’. But any outsider who did risked a licking from those same friends.The family’s acceptance of him gave him the confidence to partake in other boyhood activities.“I knew from about the age of six, seven, that I could not run as fast as other boys, my peers. I could play cricket, I was a pretty good opening batsman. I opened for ‘A’ House. I think I was selected because I was difficult to get out.“While I could play cricket fairly well, fielding was the problem, and running between the wickets, so I focused on slip fielding.”He attended the Diamond Primary School, and after writing the Common Entrance exams, he attended Indian Education Trust College for four years, then East Ruimveldt Secondary for two years.“I think that it was at East Ruimveldt Secondary that I really found myself, because about three months after, the then headmaster, Horace L. Tate,Wholesale Stitched Jerseys, appointed me head prefect. Those students were so warm and nice, they made me feel welcome. That was a wonderful school.”He graduated from high school in 1968, and started to teach in 1969 at his alma mater.He gets emotional when he recalls those days.“I was 19. Imagine me, just finished school, teaching students who were sometimes two years younger than me.”He taught geography, but then also turned to his childhood passion: sports. He began assisting with the school’s sports programme.“When Samuel Moffatt came on as headmaster, he saw that I was assisting the games-master, and discovered that my input was greater, and the students trusted me more. Basically, Mr. Moffatt believed in results and I was getting results. I got the children interested in sports and they liked it. Almost every child wanted to participate in some sports activity.The victorious ERSS Road Relay Team. Standing,Wholesale Jerseys 2017, from left: Gordon Lewis, Lloyd Kingston (PE Teacher), Brian 'Chinaman' Griffith. Sitting, from left: Leon Walcott (Coach), Theron Velloza, Wayne Mathurin and Vigil Lewis.“I think my greatest contribution to East Ruimveldt Secondary was in the field of sports and football. It was a joy for me to work with national athletes like the Lewis brothers (Vigil and Gordon), Wilton Angoy (the national high jumping champion); the late Horace David, Oliver Alves, Ronald Lee- Bing.“During what you could call the Moffat-Walcott era we excelled in sports. I was the PE teacher until Mr. Lloyd Kingston took over. Our sports programme was so good that other schools used to come to Mr. Moffatt and ask that we run their course for them.”Years later, many of these former