Crazy Amazing Humans Episode 4: "Angel City Sports"

Psychologists suggest that many times the things that can hold us back are simply roadblocks that we construct in our minds. The challenges are real, but we don’t always embrace our own creativity to deal with and overcome those challenges. This is one of many reasons why the story of Ezra Frech and his family is so compelling.

Ezra is the inspiration behind, and co-founder with his family of, Angel City Sports, a high-growth, high-impact non-profit organization dedicated to providing the joy of sports and a community of belonging to children and adults with physical disabilities. Ezra’s passion and dedication to sports has earned him elite athlete status and placed him on the US Paralympic Track and Field Team at the age of 15. He embodies both the power of the human spirit as well as the kind of compassion for others that is truly remarkable. His message is “Being Different is OK” and he believes you should “Focus on What You Have Versus What You Don’t Have.”

Come get to know and be inspired by this warm and engaging family as they choose to embrace the spirit of “tikkun olam” (i.e. to heal the world with your actions) in all that they do.

For the full podcast, click here!

The Strength and Courage of Helping Paralympic Athletes

In this podcast with Dehl Nutrition, Clayton Frech, the founder and CEO of Angel City Sports, discusses his story and how Angel City Sports was formed. Angel City Sports is committed to providing athletic opportunities for children, adults, and veterans with physical disabilities and visual impairments. Thanks to his own personal journey with his first son, Ezra Frech, Clayton found the strength to pursue his dream of a more inclusive world and now is in charge of the organizations annual event - the Angel City Games, a multi-sport Paralympic competition in the U. S. 

Highlights of this podcast:

• More than 15% of the population has a physical disability- and that may be an underestimate!

• There are certain sports that have been specially created for the community

• Others have been adapted, like wheelchair basketball

• Turning disability into triumph

• Embracing sports to create community

For the full podcast, click here!

Let the Games Begin

Clayton Frech (’98) founded Angel City Sports in honor of his now teenaged son Ezra — who was born missing his left knee and left fibula and wears a prosthesis — to provide opportunities for children, adults and veterans with physical disabilities to participate in sports. 

The most visible manifestation of Frech’s work is the Angel City Games Presented by The Hartford, which was planned for June 18–21 at UCLA. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, Frech and his team made the difficult decision to suspend all programming through June. However, his team is actively planning a “pivot” whereby the games transform from a four-day weekend into a four-week virtual event this summer, with anybody and everybody welcome to participate.

His newest venture, Ampla Partners, matches people with disabilities with economic opportunities, including college internships, post-college jobs, mid-career jobs, board positions and project work.

For the full podcast, click here!

Wayfinder Family Services Joins Angel City Sports: Blind Paralympic activities added to annual adaptive sports event

Los Angeles, CA (February 5, 2020) — Wayfinder Family Services (Wayfinder) and Angel City Sports are partnering to bring Paralympic sports for the blind and visually impaired to the 2020 Angel City Games presented by The Hartford. The Angel City Games presented by The Hartford is the largest multi-sport Paralympic competition in the U.S. and will be held June 18-21st at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. Over 550 athletes of all ages and skill levels, from all over the country, who have a physical disability or visual impairment are expected to participate in the 2020 Games. 

The 2020 Games will feature clinics and competitions in nine Paralympic sports, including track and field, swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, table tennis, sitting volleyball, archery, goalball, and power lifting. The 2020 Games will also offer cheerleading and Esport. In addition, there will be the Experience Zone for the entire community to try adaptive sports, and an impressive weekend full of special events and entertainment.  

Wayfinder will help create a four-day sports program at the 2020 Games designed specifically for the blind and visually impaired, including goalball, archery, track and field, and swimming. In addition, Wayfinder will host introductory clinics in blind judo, biathlon laser rifle, and beep baseball over the weekend in the Experience Zone. 

Wayfinder Family Services previously hosted an annual event, the Wayfinder Paralympic Games (formerly known as the Junior Blind Olympics) and saw an opportunity to enrich the Wayfinder athlete experience by combining efforts to create one large-scale event that serves the entire community. 

“Wayfinder is thrilled to partner with Angel City Sports to give our athletes who are blind or visually impaired the opportunity to compete at UCLA’s world-class facilities, as well as a chance to meet Paralympic athletes and champions from all over the country. We are proud to join the fastest growing adaptive sports movement on the West Coast,” said Miki Jordan, Wayfinder’s president and chief executive officer. 

“Angel City Sports is excited to partner with Wayfinder to offer a premiere adaptive sports experience to athletes, new and experienced, who are blind or visually impaired. Their six decades of providing programming and empowering life-changing experiences for children and adults with disabilities is invaluable to our efforts,” said Clayton Frech, chief executive officer and founder of Angel City Sports. “With Wayfinder’s support, we are re-envisioning the entire structure of the Games, from technology to sport to volunteer roles, to better accommodate the visually impaired and blind athletes. We hope this draws hundreds of athletes out this year, and thousands in future years,” offered Camille Mahlknecht, games director. 

For information related to the Games, please go to www.angelcitygames.org or follow Angel City Sports on social at @angelcitysports.

To learn more about Wayfinder, visit www.wayfinderfamily.org or follow @wayfinderfamily. 

About Angel City Sports

Angel City Sports provides year-round adaptive sports opportunities in Southern California for children, adults and veterans with physical differences and impairments. The non-profit organization is focused on encouraging physical activity for people with disabilities and advancing the adaptive sports movement regionally and nationally in collaboration with programs such as US Paralympics, Adaptive Sports USA, USA Volleyball, US Tennis Association and USA Track and Field. Debuting in 2015 and currently hosted at UCLA, the annual four-day Angel City Games features clinics and competition in adaptive sports and activities including track & field, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, swimming and archery. Additional programs, clinics and events throughout the year cover an even wider range of adaptive sports and are open to people with physical differences. The organization also supports emerging school-based programs through adaptive sports equipment rental, coaching education and athlete training. To learn more, please visit www.angelcitysports.org.  

About Wayfinder Family Services

Wayfinder Family Services is the place to turn for people facing the greatest challenges—from people with vision loss and severe developmental disabilities to children in foster care. We work as partners to find specific solutions to help each program participant discover their path to sustained well-being. Early intervention, special education, recreation, independence, workforce development and mental health programs give people of all ages who have disabilities the opportunity to thrive. Our residential programs for foster youth provide a safe haven, mental health services and medical care. Children and youth who need loving homes are matched with families through our foster care and adoption program. For over 60 years, Wayfinder has been building a more inclusive, equitable world because we believe that everyone deserves a chance to reach their full potential.

Learning From the Best- Adaptive Sports USA National Conference

A few weeks ago, the ACS staff had the privilege to attend the Adaptive Sports USA 2019 National Conference. Over the course of three days, we were able to learn from  the best minds in adaptive athletics on topics such as: risk management, sponsorships, nonprofit leadership, rowing for rehabilitation, and emergency preparedness. I was even lucky enough to watch our Table Tennis lead Jennifer Lučarević speak about prosthetics for sport- she is the best! 

The conference took place at Ability 360, an incredible adaptive fitness facility in Phoenix. One of the highlights was watching the two rival Arizona power soccer teams face each other in an intense and entertaining match! We learned that power soccer is becoming more and more popular among adaptive sports programs all across the country. Our goal is to incorporate power soccer into our ongoing programming within the next two years. If you would like to play- let us know! 

One of the most helpful elements of this conference is the opportunity to brainstorm with other major event directors. I was able to collaborate with the masterminds that host the Endeavor Games, Great Lake Games, Beehive Games, and many more sensational leaders. Together, we were able to discuss how to continue to improve our events and attract more spectators to support our phenomenal athletes. 

While the Adaptive Sports USA National Conference is only held once a year- I look forward to reconnecting with everyone when we all support our own athletes at the 2020 Junior Nationals in Denver. The 2020 Angel City Games will be held about 1 month before Junior Nationals and is a qualifying event! Be sure to keep an eye out for the 2020 Angel City Games registration in January!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to attend forums such as the Adaptive Sports USA National Conference so Angel City can continue to give our athletes the ability to unlock their dreams.

Written by:

Camille Mahlknecht

Angel City Sports & DK3 Wheelchair Basketball Clinic

Angel City Sports (ACS) held a wheelchair basketball clinic at Venice Beach on October 13, a few weeks ago. It was early in the morning before the DK3 Invitational Wheelchair basketball 3 on 3 half-court tournaments. Paralympic Gold-Medalist David Kiley (DK), teamed up with Angel City Sports for the clinic. DK is a very heavy hitter in the Paralympic ranks. Some of the other contributors were the US Paralympic Women Wheelchair Basketball Team Coach Trooper Johnson, US Paralympic Women's Wheelchair Basketball Team members, and Gold-Medalist Megan Blunk, Courtney Ryan, US Paralympic Men's Wheelchair Basketball team members, and Gold-Medalist Trevon Jenifer.

I spoke to a mother of a four-year-old child about ACS. The mother's eyes flew open and she said: "My son can participate in those clinics?" I mentioned to her that I have captured an image of a five-year-old child in a wheelchair in a tennis clinic I, sure your son can. The mother replied that her son is four, is that too young? I said I have captured an image of a five-year-old child in a wheelchair in a tennis clinic, there is no age limit for a person to get involved. After giving her an ACS brochure and showing her how to contact them she was very encouraged and excited.

Continue reading and check out more incredible photos!

Written By:
Jaime & Cameron Robles

Adaptive / Wheelchair Tennis Clinic - Sept 22

Sunday, Sept 22nd, I covered Angel City's Wheelchair/Adaptive Tennis Clinic. The West Coast Wheelchair Tennis Associaton (WCWTA) teamed up with Angel City and their own Anthony Larra, also a member of WCWTA, ran the event. Anthony has an impressive career with numerous awards, the last being the 2017 Angel City Sports Foundation's "Coach of the Year". He mentioned during the clinic that the goal of WCWTA is to hold one clinic every week.

The Clinic was conducted at the Marguerite Tennis Pavillion in Casta Del Sol, Mission Viejo, CA.

The more I cover these events the better I understand what Adaptive Sports means. They are not only athletes in a wheelchair but often they have additional physical challenges. It is an unfortunate amazing ignorance the general public holds in confusing Adaptive Sports and Special Olympics. There couldn't be any different competitions. In sharing the images Cameron and I capture, people are always stunned at the athletes' intensities.

Continue reading and check out more photos!

Written By:
Jaime & Cameron Robles

“I’m above ground, so I enjoy life”

It’s a beautiful day at Westchester Golf Course. The birds are chirping, breeze is blowing, and the sun is shining through cotton candy clouds. The only thing brighter than the gleaming sun is Irwin Merein’s smile. Merein, an above knee amputee who will celebrate his 70th birthday next June, has worked hard on the driving range for the past two hours. Grinning ear to ear, he shares each time he attends an Angel City Sports Golf Clinic he can see his swing become more consistent. Today he drove a golf ball right into a target four times!

Merein is a man on the move. He worked as a postal worker for the City of Santa Monica for 38 years and has been a long distance runner his entire life. He has competed in countless races across the country and even participated in the Boston Marathon in 1978 and 1982 - running his fastest time at 2:43!

After losing his leg in 2014 due to hip surgery complications, Merein was frustrated. Retraining one’s body to do basic movements is a daunting task for anyone, especially for someone whose license plate reads run26miles. He felt limited and lost - unsure what was next for him if he couldn’t run. Fortunately, Merein was approached by Ezra Frech himself as they were both training on the same track. After Ezra shared his story and the opportunities Angel City could provide, Merein was instantly inspired. 

Now, Merein has a wonderful attitude. He is West Los Angeles College’s number one fan and can often be seen in the bleachers supporting every athletic squad - especially the Cross Country team. “I’m above ground, so I enjoy life” he beams as he watches the golf ball sail across the green.

Merein loves attending Angel City Sports Golf Clinics because it gives him a sense of encouragement. He enjoys having an opportunity to get out of the house and appreciate the fresh air. When he isn’t at Westchester Golf Course, he can be seen strolling the West LA track, gradually regaining his strength and confidence.

Merein enjoys traveling and attends the Olympic Trials every year with his friends. He is also a proud member of the Runners Reunited Club- a group of elite runners who meet annually to discuss the ‘good old times’ when everyone ran on dirt tracks. His strength improves daily, and he is excited to continue to improve his stability and independence. His ultimate goal is to be able to run again - hopefully before his 70th birthday!

Angel City is so proud of Irwin. We can’t wait to see him back at Westchester Golf Course on October 17th for our next Adaptive Golf Clinic!

Written By:
Camille Mahlknecht
Program Manager

Adaptive Over Water & Underwater

Its was a beautiful morning at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena, CA. Also, it was a very exciting morning because we saw our first adaptive water sports clinics. It's a very impressive facility, built as a result of the last LA Olympic competition. The clinic was outdoors using one of their two Olympic size pools and an adjunct therapy pool. This had to be the perfect location for Angel City Sports' adaptive swimming and scuba diving clinics. Angel City Sports teamed up with Diveheart.org, based out of Illinois, for the dive clinic. It is hard to wrap my head around the idea of seeing these physically handicapped sportsmen being more active and daring than a lot of people with no physical handicaps. Watching para-athletes is amazing. They always exhibit focus, dedication, and tenacity. I have never seen any fear in their faces.

I love the interaction with these para-athletes. The hard part for me is to ask about their personal situations without stepping on an open sore. The good thing is most of the time they voluntarily offer stories about how they became handicapped. Sitting around the table at the aquatic center listening to them talk is like being with my Special Forces A-Team talking about our stories. Sometimes you want to laugh and sometimes you struggle to hold back the tears. It's not like a TV show that has been edited. Just the real, raw facts.

The volunteers for this clinic have their own stories. Also, these guys are professional in their field and know how to handle anything that might come up. And I'm assuming they don't charge a single penny for their work. On the other hand, the equipment used to conduct these clinics is very expensive. As for the facilities, I don't think they are free to Angel City, although I don't know for sure. My point is that this is a major undertaking for Angel City in a real monetary way.

Continue reading and check out more photos!

Written By:
Jaime & Cameron Robles

Angel Athlete Highlight - Lana Aronis

Meet Lana Aronis! She attended the 2019 Angel City Games presented by The Hartford with some assistance from our travel grant program. Lana has been practicing gymnastics at home and was able to try sitting volleyball and the high jump for the first time while at the Games, which she loved 😊.

We always believe that sports and community can boost an athlete's confidence and Lana is no different! With more courage and confidence, Lana was able to return home and overcome a struggle at gymnastics she was having prior to the Games.

Her struggle? Doing a pullover mount. Some of her struggle was physical strength, but it mostly came down to self-doubt and lack of courage.

On her first night back at gymnastics, facing her obstacle at the bar, she overcame it all. She walked straight up to the bar, without hesitation, and pulled herself higher than ever before successfully completing a pullover mount! We couldn't be prouder of you, Lana - keep up the great work!!

Thank you to Emily Aronis for sharing!

"It was no coincidence that it happened after the Angel City Games...I honestly believe her being surrounded by the amazing athletes that weekend showed her that anything is possible."

Written By:
Sarena Granados
Marketing Coordinator