It would be easy for Steve Ferreira to just sit in his chair.

The 23-year-old Renton native and Bellevue College student has lived in a wheelchair for his entire life after being diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy as an infant.

But for Ferreira, the chair is for more than just sitting.

He took up basketball and other sports during his youth and won the Physical Education Medallion Award at his alma mater Liberty during his senior year. In the five years since finishing high school, Ferreira’s trophy case has steadily become more crowded as he has captured medals in discus, club and shot put throw as well as weightlifting. The impact he has away from athletics is even greater, as Ferreira has traveled around the region giving his presentation to high school students about what a life with cerebral palsy looks like.

Thornton Perry, an instructor who has spent the past 41 years at BC in one capacity or another and coached Ferreira for the past three years, said he has never met anyone who combines purpose and positivity like Steve.

“I’ve never been around someone so positive in my entire life,” Perry said.

He first met Ferreira at a freshman orientation and the two immediately connected, talking about adaptations for wheelchair athletes and the minimal coaching he had received up to that point. Other than helping a former student prepare for the Special Olympics, Perry had virtually no experience working with developmentally disabled adults. A few years around Ferreira has taught him all he needs to know.

“I’ve learned a lot about the human spirit,” Perry said.

He and Ferreira have continued their throwing sessions, with Perry even getting his young pupil involved with Club Northwest, the track and field group he is part of.

All the work has led Ferreira to the cusp of a goal he has been chasing since he began competing: a spot on the United States Paralympic Team. Later this month he will travel to Chicago to compete in discus, shot put and club throw. Results pending, the final round of trials in Indianapolis is the last step before earning a trip to London for the biggest stage wheelchair athletics has to offer.

“It would be awesome,” Ferreira said of making the squad that will compete against the best in the world.

For the Love of the Game is a Reporter column by sports and recreation reporter Josh Suman, who can be reached at 425-453-5045 or jsuman@bellevuereporter.com