The 19 year-old Australian Paralympian Ryley Batt has shown his talent in Wheelchair Rugby at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games and is regarded by many as the best Wheelchair Rugby player in the world.

Since being introduced to the sport at a school demonstration game, Batt has become one of the toughest competitors at the Beijing Games.

Despite having been awarded such titles as best Australian 2.5-point player and Rookie of the Year in 2003, as well as Most Valuable Player in 2004, 2006 and 2007, Batt is refreshingly humble about his success.

"I don't consider myself to be the best player in the world," says Batt.

"Everyone on my team has different qualities and strengths to add. I just love playing. So it doesn't matter to me whether I have been labeled the world's best or not."

Residing in Port Macquarie on the New South Wales coast of Australia, Batt says that it is sometimes hard for him to make the regular trips to Sydney for training, but his love for the sport always outweighs any negatives.

"I love the physical aspect of the game, the speed, the contact and the people who I play alongside," he says.

Born with a limb deficiency that left him without legs, Batt used a skateboard for the first 12 years of his life as his main mode of transportation before Wheelchair Rugby won his heart and got him up into a wheelchair.

"I use to think wheelchairs were for disabled people and I didn't think of myself as being disabled," says Batt.

"I probably would be a better player now if I had been in a wheelchair my whole life because it took a bit to get use to. The best thing I ever did was to get into a wheelchair because now I am a lot better off."

Since his first game, Batt hasn't looked back, playing in competition for the first time in 2002 and going on to be selected for the Australian National Wheelchair Rugby League team in 2003.

"I have been playing for Australia for six years now and I have loved every minute of it. It is every man's dream to play for their country so I am really proud to be able to represent Australia," says Batt.

Batt also played on the Australian team at the Athens Paralympic Games in 2004 when he was just 15 years old, the youngest ever Wheelchair Rugby Paralympian.

Cheering him on from the sidelines along the way are his family and friends, who Batt says have always supported him in his Paralympic dreams.

"My mom is my biggest fan," he says.

"Before the Paralympics she said to me she couldn't even look at me without welling up with tears of pride."

Australia has so far won all three of their matches against Germany, New Zealand and Great Britain, with Batt contributing 24.3 goals per game, more than half of the team's goals in each match.

Being the world's top player also makes Batt a key aspect of his competitor's game strategies, with teams preparing their defense to account for his prowess.

"It's difficult to defend him because he is so fast," says Great Britain's Alan Ash.

"We try to keep three players on him at all times."

It won't stop here for Batt, who says he has always been well known for his drive, determination and willingness to jump head first into everything in life.

"When I was young, the boys used to call me Wolfer because I just used to go full throttle into everything like a dog," he says.

"I just think you have to go at life with everything you've got and that's what I'm doing."

(BOCOG September 14, 2008)