Junior wheelchair basketball tournament in Arlington serves as inspirational reminder
ARLINGTON, Texas - Hundreds of kids from around the country showed you don’t have to let challenges get in your way.
What Happened: The kids were part of a wheelchair basketball tournament hosted by the Dallas Junior Wheelchair Mavericks and Scottish Rite.
Twenty teams from around the country faced off at UT Arlington’s Maverick Activity Center on Saturday.
Team USA’s Fabian Romo was there to cheer them on. He said he wanted his gold medal from the Paris Paralympic Games to be an inspiration for kids, proving a wheelchair doesn’t need to block your dreams.
Romo was born without a femur, and at age 3, his leg was amputated above the knee.
"Never knew about adaptive sports or anything," he said.
But at age 15, he found out about wheelchair basketball.
"I think it completely shaped the person that I am today," he said.
And that’s what’s happening for the kids who competed in Saturday’s tournament.
What They’re Saying: Salomon Paresky was born with spina bifida. The 11-year-old started playing wheelchair basketball about three years ago.
"It was super fun," he said. "Kind of like a new experience. And it was nervous at the first time, but then when I played more games, it kinda got more easier for me."
He now also plays wheelchair tennis.
"It’s fun because you get to run around in both sports. And it’s just funner than just rolling around all the time and not doing something active with your wheelchair," he said.
Paresky’s classmates came from Richardson to cheer him on.
"Disabled or not, you can still play the sports you want to play," said Gabe Blessman, a fifth grader.
"They decided to not quit and somehow dribble while they’re in a wheelchair," said McShayne Brown, another 5th grader. "These people, what they are doing is harder than just dribbling while standing up."
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Paresky’s coach, Pam Fontaine, was a 1996 bronze medalist in the Atlanta Paralympics.
"If you have the confidence to be able to do certain skills, and you recognize that, then when they’re in a school, that will transfer over. So then they feel comfortable being with able-bodied kids and being able to participate just like they do in a different way," she said.
The Coach’s Backstory: Fontaine did not waste any time getting into the sport after an auto accident put her in a wheelchair at age 16.
"So, I left rehab in November and went to my first wheelchair basketball practice in December. I didn’t have time to look back," she said. "They were all Vietnam vets mainly, and there was me and I couldn’t hit the rim, you know, because I was just out of the hospital. And so, I had a lot to learn."
But Fontaine worked on her skills and got stronger through college.
She finally reached a high enough level that she was picked for the Paralympic team.
Fontaine said playing wheelchair basketball made her stronger.
"It taught me so many life skills. Plus, I saw other people with a similar disability as mine, and I thought to myself, ‘Well if they can do it, why can’t I?’" she said.
Dig Deeper: The Dallas Junior Wheelchair Mavericks is a nonprofit organization that offers wheelchair basketball opportunities to kids from ages 5 to 18.
To learn more or to get involved, visit https://www.dallasjuniorwheelchairmavericks.org.