Three e-mails.

That's about all it took to get the wheels rolling on a one-of-a-kind wheelchair sports outreach launched by the women's fencing team at Johns Hopkins University.

The effort was spearheaded by Jim Murray, head women's fencing coach at Johns Hopkins, who agreed to a request by friend and U.S. Paralympic fencing coach Leshak Stawicki to establish a youth wheelchair fencing outreach. Murray's initial concern was finding participants for the program.

While such a project may have appeared daunting, the three e-mails turned the tide. Murray's first was to the Johns Hopkins athletic trainer; the second to the school's director of sports medicine; and the third with the Kennedy-Krieger Rehabilitation Hospital, a Johns Hopkins affiliate, and its satellite program, the Bennett Sports Institute, which specializes in wheelchair sports

In the span of one morning, Murray and the Blue Jays women's fencing team had a group of wheelchair athletes with which to work. During a team meeting, Murray shared details of the outreach that included incorporating the student-athletes to coach participants one on one.

Said Murray, "I told the team that we can't offer this program and not follow through. This is not the type of thing where we're going to show up, in effect raise their hopes -- what kid doesn't want to be a musketeer -- and not follow through."

As it turns out, Murray had nothing to worry about. For the second straight year, on Saturday mornings that the competitive and holiday schedules allow during the academic year, several Johns Hopkins fencers load up equipment and accompany him to the Bennett Sports Institute to spend an hour teaching youth in wheelchairs the art of fencing.

Murray figured it wouldn't take much to draw the interest of Bennett Sports Institute athletes.

"Fencing is like an 'oh, wow' sport. It has a lot of impact. We've got equipment, we have white jackets and the weapons, and we brought over a scoring machine so lights are blinking. It was just a question of finding a participant base -- and we did," said Murray.

Participants range in age from 12 to 17. The Johns Hopkins contingent works with a core group of about six of them at each session, but Murray said that on any given Saturday that number fluctuates if a few beginners are in the mix. Since the program's establishment, he estimates that perhaps 20 athletes have been exposed to fencing.

Fencing is a paralympic sport; however, there isn't a structure for youth wheelchair fencing. To Murray's knowledge, Johns Hopkins' program with Bennett Sports Institute is the only one of its kind in the country. In addition, the hour the Blue Jays spend with the athletes is part of a much longer day that includes their participation in other sports such as basketball, swimming and tennis. In fact, some have earned slots on U.S. Paralympic teams and are national-level competitors in sled hockey, track and field, and basketball. Consequently, the Johns Hopkins outreach isn't competitive in nature.

In working with the young fencers, Blue Jay student-athletes use standard equipment -- mask, white jacket and weapon -- from the program's inventory. In the case of wheelchair fencing, as with archery and trap shooting, athletes are fixed in place with a frame and all fencing actions are made with the hand and the weapon and by leaning and reaching from the chair.

"If you would be teaching swimming to a person with physical limitations, there would be a lot of special factors," said Murray. "But in fencing, our skills are completely transferable. Everything we dotransfers immediately."

Before this latest endeavor, Murray had not been involved in wheelchair sports. The current outreach was his first opportunity to do so, and he has taken full advantage. Once he knew he was starting a local program, Murray said he became more involved on the national level to be more attuned to what the top athletes are doing so he could transfer those skills to the youth level.

"It helps me overall and makes me a better coach," he said.

Ultimately, Murray said, the goal is to just keep the program going, and he hopes that other schools will begin similar efforts -- not just in fencing, but in other sports, too. In the meantime, he isn't shy about encouraging the budding fencers to aim high.

"What I tell the kids is 'a couple years from now somebody has got to be on our Olympic team. Why not you? Think big,' " said Murray. "Where will it go? We'll see."