The second installment of the 2020 Angel City Virtual Games will be on August 3-9. The event is open to differently abled athletes as well as allies, care-givers, and family members of the athletes. Angel City Sports gives its participants a sense of community through sports, this can play an important factor in an individual’s life.
Ty Duckett is one of the many people who has benefitted from the opportunities provided by Angel City Sports. Duckett was a fan of motorcycle riding but was involved in a life-altering motor vehicle accident in 2015.
Due to the accident, he had to get part of his left leg amputated.
“I literally thought life was over because I didn’t know what life would be like with having a disability,” Duckett said.
Duckett had a strong support system in his wife and loved ones as he grappled with his new normal. While at an open house that was hosted by his prosthetist, he met Angel City Sports founder Clayton Frech and his son Ezra.
“They invited me out to the Angel City Games, which was what I desperately needed at this time because I was newly disabled,” Duckett said. “It allowed me to breathe a new life.”
Along with attending the inaugural Angel City Games, he also participated in events Angel City Sports hosts throughout the year.
His wife knew that Duckett is a thrill seeker, so she researched and discovered Life Rolls On, an organization that hosts adaptive surfing events. He soon became involved with them as a member of their pink team. One time, he surfed without a prosthetic leg which earned him praise from members of the organization.
“I popped up for half a second,” Duckett said. “Afterwards everybody was all smiles … the guy who was helping me out, he was all like “Dude, in 15 years nobody has ever did that,””
His surfing performance would also turn heads at a Life Rolls On event in San Diego.
“I wore my prosthetic and I stood up and surfed on two legs,” Duckett said. “Then people went nuts over that, the San Diego Tribune covered it.”
Duckett became friends with the organization founder and CEO Jesse Billauer. He has since awarded Duckett with an Inspirational Athlete Award.
“There’s a lot more going into surfing besides just wave riding,” he said. “This was a life-changing activity that found me.”
For this year’s Angel City Games Presented by the Hartford, Duckett plans to participate in swimming, wheelchair basketball, and track and field. He looks forward to seeing the participants being inspired by the events and activities held virtually.
“I think people may be able to reach their personal bests, being able to focus, being in their own element but still do the sports that they love to do,” he said. “Angel City is filling a much-needed void that nobody expected to happen and they’re bringing people together that are from a community that need it the most.”
A big piece of advice Duckett has is to find something that makes you feel alive. That is what surfing does for him.
“You’re out there in the ocean, we’re watching the sunrise, seeing animals doing what they do,” he said. “Surfers call it the reset button; I go into the ocean kind of grumpy and I come out smiling ear to ear.”
To register for the Angel City Games Presented by The Hartford, visit https://www.angelcitygames.org/Athlete-Participation/Registration.
