MEQUON, Wis. — Behind every great team or franchise, there’s an unmistakable voice tied to its history that connects fans to every play, every victory, and sometimes even heartbreak.
However, at Homestead High School, that voice isn’t just heard. It also inspires.
“I don't even worry about the fact that I have a disability," Homestead's PA announcer Garrett Murray said. "It's just who I am.”
While hard to tell behind the microphone, Murray battles Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NVLD).
According to The NVLD Project, people who have Nonverbal Learning Disorder "struggle with a range of conditions that include social and spatial disabilities."
"His disability is about 85% of how we communicate," Stacey Murray, Garrett's mother, explained. "It's all the nonverbal things, so a lot of social skills, but announcing is not an issue at all."
Watch: Breaking Barriers: How Garrett Murray became the heart of Homestead Athletics
Garrett has been a PA announcer at Homestead High School for nearly a decade, a career he pursued on his own back in middle school.
“When he was in eighth grade, his brother, who was in high school, was on the lacrosse team," Stacey explained.
Murray asked his older brother if the team had an announcer. Since Homestead did not, he decided to spark a conversation with Mike LaValle, who was the head coach at the time.
“He came up to me before the season and said, 'Hey coach, how are you doing?'" LaValle recalled. "He said, 'I have an idea, and I want to run it by you. I really want to be an announcer.'"
Murray shared with LaValle that he wanted to be the team's announcer.
"Let's do that. You can be the Voice of Homestead Lacrosse," LaValle responded with a smile.
That conversation occurred in 2016.
Since then, Murray's announcing responsibilities have grown exponentially at Homestead High School and now include basketball, football, and soccer.
Upon graduating, the school offered him employment through the Mequon-Thiensville School District.
“When I first started my announcing, it was on a volunteer basis," Murray explained. "After I was doing it for a while, [Erich Hinterstocker] emailed me and said we're going to put you on the payroll, and so now I'm getting paid for what I love.”
“He had done so much for us for nothing, and it was just time to reward him," Hinterstocker added.
Murray's story is a good reminder that a disability is not an inability.
Instead, it urges the notion that dreams don't work unless you put them into motion.
"I'm definitely proud of myself," Murray said with a smile. "It doesn't matter if you have a disability or not. Go out and chase your dreams."
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