When it comes to one of my great great nephews, I guess you could call me a stalker. He’s never met me, nor ever heard of me, nor has any idea that I’ve been spying on him for years. His name is AJ Fitzpatrick and he’s eighteen years old, and he’s one of my role models.

AJ was born with an incurable condition called Arthrogryposis, in which the lower part of his body suffers from debilitating joint muscle contracture. That means that the joints are fixed in a bent or twisted position and have limited movement. His mother – my great niece Elizabeth Bekeris – had been advised that he would never be able to walk and that he would be confined to a wheelchair for life. Apparently, Baby AJ missed out on hearing that catastrophic prognosis – or if he did, he had the good sense to ignore it.

Years ago, I saw a memorable video of him when he was about two years old. The video was recorded by my niece DeeDee (who will be the logical choice for cinematographer of my as-yet-unborn screenplay.) The scene she recorded took place at her house. Until then, AJ had spent his young life in leg casts and they had just been removed. The “movie prop” you’ll see is a tiny walker that little AJ had just been introduced to. The movie is about a minute long, and I think it’s unforgettable. I recommend you watch it before reading further because it will fully introduce you to the character of AJ.
https://youtu.be/cptQzb_C80E

“After using the walker for a couple of months AJ started walking on his own, with only the assistance of his leg braces. He continued to walk without assistance until around 1st grade. But as he got bigger, and his top half continued to grow, it became impossible for him to support the weight. At that point he started using arm crutches… again, no lessons needed. He picked up on that immediately and even started doing handstands with them.

. . . . When long distances became too tiring, we got him a motorized wheelchair. After using it for a few months he asked me for a manual wheelchair. I couldn’t understand why he would want one so badly. His school campus is bigger than the college campus next to his school, I thought that it was a terrible idea. But he begged, “Mom, I WANT to push myself”. So we did it. His new chair came with a seatbelt and safety supports in the back so he couldn’t flip the chair backwards, but he removed it all immediately and started popping wheelies in the living room.

. . . . In 5th grade he was starting to get antsy and really loved sports, but we didn’t think we had any options. My sister Abby did some Google research and found Sportability of Iowa – a non-profit who raised money for people with physical disabilities to be able to participate in adapted sports. . . .We showed up to an open gym they were presenting, and that is where his love for wheelchair basketball was born. He couldn’t get enough of it. So we showed up every week where my little 5th grader would play basketball against a whole group of grown men, and they did not show him any mercy. They played just as hard against him as they did with each other.“

Those grown men must have been surprised to be competing with “The Little Engine that Could”.

Today, as an 18 year old, AJ certainly does use a wheelchair. A wheelchair is to AJ, what a piano is to a concert pianist. It’s a tool in his toolkit which he has fully mastered to a rather unique level – to put it mildly.

From what I’ve read and observed online, wheelchair basketball isn’t a sport for sissies. I asked the ChatGPT bot to compare it to conventional basketball and got this response:

“While conventional basketball is certainly physically demanding, wheelchair basketball presents a unique set of challenges that can make it even more difficult in certain respects.

In wheelchair basketball, players must navigate the court using only their upper body strength and coordination, propelling themselves and their wheelchairs with quick, powerful pushes on the rims of the wheels. This requires exceptional arm, shoulder, and core strength, as well as a high level of skill in maneuvering the chair, controlling the ball, and making accurate passes and shots.

Furthermore, wheelchair basketball players must be able to do all of this while also maintaining balance and stability in a seated position, which can be quite challenging. They also need to be able to anticipate the movements of other players and adjust their own positioning and movements accordingly, making strategic decisions quickly in order to outmaneuver their opponents.

Overall, while both conventional basketball and wheelchair basketball require significant physical and mental abilities, wheelchair basketball presents unique challenges that can make it even more difficult in some ways.”

AJ and the teams he’s played on have racked up a staggering pile of trophies and awards, and then, this was announced. . . .

https://www.kcrg.com/2023/03/02/cedar-rapids-aj-fitzpatrick-invited-us-olympic-trials-wheelchair-basketball/

… and the following Facebook post from his mom, knocked the socks off all of us who’d been following his young career.

From Elizabeth:

“AJ has accepted an invitation from the NWBA High Performance Team Selection Committee to attend tryouts for Team USA at the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs in April. If selected, and after a lot of hard work at many training camps, he would travel to Dubai in June to compete at the World Championships. He has always had Paralympic dreams, since he started this sport, and this opportunity makes that a real possibility.

This kid has worked so hard day in and day out and has never made excuses. When goals aren’t reached, he just digs that much deeper and works that much harder. His dedication and commitment clearly does not go unnoticed. We are so beyond proud of him. This is a huge undertaking, all while continuing his education and maintaining that GPA. This kid can only be found in the classroom or in the gym. It will be a lot of work, but if anyone can do it, it’s him.“

He wasn’t selected, though. Not yet, anyway. This lad has had 18 years of impediments and obstacles to clear out of his way, and he’s learned the value of stoic determination and patience. And he simply doesn’t give up. The following was posted by Elizabeth at the conclusion of the USA trials.

“We know everyone has been anxiously awaiting the results of Team USA tryouts. It was incredibly tough competition and he played hard against some of the best in the world. Unfortunately he was not selected this time, but he is so happy to have this incredible opportunity. He was the youngest there and learned so much from these amazingly talented athletes.

Getting to play alongside your idols is not something a lot of people can say they have had the opportunity to do. We are so proud of him and we are so happy he knows what to expect next time he’s selected!”

You may be wondering why I, of all people, have the nerve to be writing a story about a sports hero. I actually retired from playing jacks at about the age of 10 because the other girls always won. I tried playing marbles with my brothers a few times but they always stole my marbles to get rid of me. That’s about the extent of my athletic career. But you don’t need to have athletic talent to inspired by somebody like AJ. He knows how to make the impossible possible, how to face the bumps and grinds of failure, and he knows the giddy joy of successful achievement.

We need role models like AJ. Watching them, studying their effort, and their reaction to both success and failure, is a powerful motivator to other mortals – even ancient specimens like me. As an example, I’ve been trying and failing for nearly two years to tame my dimming eyesight and arthritic fingers in order to master a certain Mozart piano sonata. I haven’t succeeded yet, but whenever I get discouraged, I remember AJ, and I think, “I just have to try harder. Hell, yes! Maybe I CAN do this!”

And if I can ever conquer that keyboard, then maybe I can try to learn to write that screenplay about AJ – if somebody doesn’t beat me to it!

To get a glimpse of AJ in action, I think he’s in the white jersey number 6 in this video. It’s a clip from Day 1 from the Toyota USA Team USA Men’s Selection Camp from a week ago.
https://fb.watch/jT8azOwPIW/

And below is the final roster for the Toyota USA Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team for the World Championships to be held in Dubai On June 9-20, 2023. The roster includes eight athletes from the gold-medal winning U.S. Men’s team from the 2022 Americas Cup (zonal qualifier) that was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 9-19, 2022. The roster also includes seven athletes from the gold medal winning U.S. Men’s team from the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. AJ, only 18 years old, must feel deeply honored to have been considered as competition to such world class athletes!

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