Sophomore Margie Amenero had been attending wheelchair basketball games her entire life. This weekend, she’ll be hosting her first tournament, serving as event director for Los Angeles Hotwheels 6th Annual Wheelchair Basketball Tournament.
Being on the sidelines for years, Margie knew she wanted to contribute to the wheelchair basketball community in the best way she could as an able-bodied person.
Hosting this tournament, one of Margie’s goals is to bring more awareness to adaptive sports. “I love this community. That’s been my focus. I want more people to know about this and more people to come to tournaments,” she said.
Margie is not the only member of her family that is involved with wheelchair basketball. Max Amenero, her younger brother, now coaches with his father, also named Max Amenero, making L.A. Hotwheels a family affair.
Max joined his father as a coach in 2014. “It was something really organic where I wanted to attend practices at a young age,” he said.
Margie and her brother gained their love and passion for wheelchair basketball through their dad. At seven months old, their father, who was born in Peru, contracted Polio, a virus that can lead to nerve damage, paralysis, and in extreme cases, death. For many years after contracting the virus, he used crutches to help support him getting around.
When he was 16 years old, the elder Max moved from Peru to Los Angeles. His experience of moving to the U.S. introduced him to new opportunities and greater accessibility in his daily activities. “Living for a handicap is a lot better here than Peru in many many factors,” he said. “Sidewalks, ramps, flexibility, everything.”
He reflected on some of the challenges at his first high school in Los Angeles: “It was kind of hard for me to walk from one classroom to another or to go up to the second floor to look for a classroom,” he said. “[My first high school] recommended me to a school in Los Angeles for handicap students.”
His new school led him to discover wheelchair basketball. “When I came here from Peru, I didn’t know anything about it. I wasn’t even using a wheelchair,” he said. Not only did this new school introduce him to using a wheelchair, but it also exposed him to the sport of wheelchair basketball, and he has been playing ever since.
Many of his teammates on the L.A. Hotwheels met during high school, but there is an interesting dynamic as he serves as both a teammate and coach.
“Most of these players on my team are my friends. I have known them for a long time,” he said. “You can’t get too tough on them, and then you can’t be too weak.”
His methods have proved to be successful, as the L.A. Hotwheels have made their way to the championship tournament for the past six years, coming in second place last year. In order to make the championship tournament, teams must play in at least 10 games throughout the season, which spans from September through April.
For the elder Max, wheelchair basketball is about empowerment. “You meet new friends during new challenges. And that’s what wheelchair basketball is about,” he said. “You’re getting people to be happy to build their lives.”
His son, the younger Max, added that not everyone who plays got here the same way. “On our team, we’ve been affected by anything from motorcycle accidents, to gunshot wounds, to medical conditions such as polio.”
The L.A. Hotwheels compete under the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA). The NWBA is a multi-tiered system and has teams for children, college students, adults and veterans. Margie emphasized the importance of the NWBA and what it does for athletes in wheelchairs. “Wheelchair basketball focuses a lot on the community. It is a really good way for players to get physical therapy and even mental therapy,” she said.
During the seven-month-long season, the L.A. Hotwheels will travel around the country to various tournaments to build community, comradery, compete and get a bid to Nationals.
At this weekend’s tournament in Cudahy, Margie is expecting eight teams from across the country to compete, including the Dallas Mavericks, the University of Arizona and the Golden State Road Warriors.
You can keep up to date with the L.A. Hotwheels and their tournament this weekend through their Instagram and Facebook.