The National Wheelchair Basketball Association has inspired athletes across the country to believe anything is possible.
It’s what Melvin Juette learned over his 30-year career in the sport. Juette lost his ability to walk after he was shot in back at the age of 16 in Chicago. He found his purpose playing in the NWBA.
"Once I got shot, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with myself," Juette said. "Wheelchair basketball helped me to move beyond being a victim of gang violence. It opened up me to a world where I could dream, believe and achieve."
Juette has traveled around the world as an NWBA athlete. He’s won a championship with the league Milwaukee Bucks team, which he found in 2001. He also won medals as apart of the U.S National team. He says the sport changed his life.
"There's nothing I don’t believe I can accomplish," he said.
The NWBA brought it’s national tournament to Tallmadge’s Recreation Center. The Division I tournament kicked off this weekend, where 16 teams and hundreds of athletes were vying for a national title.
It’s a sport that has similar rules to the NBA and others. The intensity is the same too, where these athletes fight tooth and nail to come out on top.
Will Waller, who is on the NWBA’s board of directors and also a former player, says the league has given people with disabilities an opportunity to have access to sports.
"Everyone here has an amazing story, but the reality is they want to be seen as an athlete first foremost," he said.
Like Juette, many of the athletes turned their tragedies into triumphs.
Brad Baugh is one of them. He plays for the league’s Denver Nuggets team, and became paralyzed after a car accident when he was 17-years-old. He says the sport helped him build relationships with people who can relate to him.
"It's very special and it's very impactful for me,” he said.
The sport has also inspired kids like Evan Heller, who plays for the league's Cavaliers team. He also suits up for his high school's team in Wooster, which was one of the first teams of its kind in Ohio.
"I want to be here one day and play with these types of players," he said. "It just motivates me to get better every single day and to work hard."
In Akron, the NWBA inducted eight people into its Hall of Fame. Melvin Juette was one of them.
Juette, who still plays for Bucks, will attempt to win another championship this weekend. The Bucks face off against the New York Rollin' Knicks on Sunday at the Tallmadge Recreation Center at 10 a.m..
For Juette and the other athletes, even though they are in wheelchairs, they know only the sky is the limit.