Ray Watkins
Competition | 2015
Hometown: Mt. Shasta, California
School Name: Chico State in Recreation and Boise State
Ray Watkins received his Bachelor of Science degree from Chico State in Recreation administration and obtained his master’s degree in Exercise Science from Boise State. He got his start in adaptive skiing as a guide for visually impaired Paralympic athlete Brian Santos before moving into head coaching roles. From 1996 – 2003, Ray was an Adaptive Alpine Coach for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. In 2003 he was named the Head Coach Adaptive Alpine Ski Team and held that position until 2010, leading the team to significant success. From 2010 to 2017 Ray joined the U.S. Paralympic Alpine Ski Team staff as the Director of Development.
In Paralympic competition, Ray was the sighted guide for his fellow Hall of Fame inductee, Brian Santos. Together, they competed in the B2 visually impaired events at the Innsbruck Winter Paralympics in 1988 but failed to win a medal. They made the U.S. Disabled Ski Team for the Men’s Downhill event in the 1988 Games in Innsbruck, Austria but were unable to start. Their first Paralympic successes came in the Albertville Games in 1992 when they won gold in the Men’s Giant Slalom B3 event and Men’s Super-G B3 event. They returned two years later to the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, winning all four events in the expanded B3 visually impaired program: giant slalom, super-G, slalom, and downhill.
In 2010, Ray was named the US Ski and Snowboard Association International Adaptive Coach of the Year. He was named the USOC Paralympic Coach of the Year in 2011.
Ray went on to serve as Senior Manager of Sports Programs for Team Semper Fi.
