(Photographs by Wix)
By Kevin Thomas
TUCSON, Ariz. – After $20,000 worth of equipment disappeared into the desert wind, a local non-profit giving an inclusive space for disabled athletes, Team Hoyt Arizona, pushed on successfully with their first race of the season.
For the athletes, their families, and members of the racing community, the opportunity to participate in these races has meant more than the stolen equipment’s weight in gold.
Multiple custom-made racing wheelchairs, plastic storage containers, and a power generator were stolen from the Team Hoyt Arizona supply trailer on the night of Sept. 5, 2023.
The theft occurred mere days before the first scheduled race of this season for the organization, which has been in operation since 2016.
“All of our shirts were thrown all over the desert in the yard, and all of the wheelchairs were gone. That's when he called me and said, ‘Uh, we’ve been robbed.’ ”Team Hoyt co-founder and treasurer Denise King said when asked how she learned of the robbery.
King recalled that a family friend stumbled on the open trailer and noticed merchandise strewn everywhere.
The public's reaction was shock, sadness, and outrage. Yet, the response from Team Hoyt Arizona’s leadership was quite the contrary. King recalled an angry response from a member of Team Hoyt New England,
“She was mad. She was like, ‘Do I have to go out there?! Heads are going to roll.’ in that wicked accent… and I said, ‘Craigy, it's all going to be just okay because everything we did was just for this moment.” King said. “We put ourselves in the community. We woke up all these weekends. We just made sure we belonged. So when something bad was going to happen, you just knew it was going to work out, and it did. I had faith that our community was going to rally, and they did.”
(Photographs courtesy of Team Hoyt Arizona Facebook Page. Photos show the emptied trailer and the broken lock on the trailer door.)
Despite the adversity that they were facing, King said there was never any doubt from Team Hoyt that they would continue with the scheduled events. The races have meant too much to the participants and those cheering them on.
“I think even if we were missing chairs, people would still show up with their kids just to cheer,” she said.
King disclosed that until Team Hoyt Arizona receives the new chairs that were ordered after the burglary, they are unable to provide a chair to a potential new participating member. This means fewer opportunities for Tucson’s adaptive athletic community to participate in races and find where they belong.
King was asked what it means when Lucas, her 16-year-old son diagnosed with cerebral palsy, or other athletes miss out on the opportunity to take part in these events.
“When they are in the race, and they are in the chairs, they can still see around them and know what's around them…and now they're part of a team again,” King said. “When that's taken away, you take away an aspect of their social world.”
Opportunities like the ones that Team Hoyt Arizona has provided have changed lives and given people new perspectives on life.
“I want to do this, like, I am going to start running. And so, sure enough, we signed up for the team, they let us borrow a chair, and we've been a part of the team ever since.” Team Hoyt Arizona’s social media manager, Jenny Hall said.
Hall, the mother of a son with disabilities herself, echoed the isolated and lonely feeling that Denise King also experienced at one time. They said the feeling came from seeing their child not being provided avenues to express themselves and not having a community to relate to and seek advice from.
“Before we found Team Hoyt, (Her son) was always in the background… They almost treated him like a lump on a log. They just were like, ‘who cares?’”Hall said. “But now we’ve joined this racing community, and he’s being cheered for. People are going by like, ‘Hey, way to go!’ and he's being seen. That speaks volumes as to why (Team Hoyt athletes) get super excited, because they're not being ignored anymore.”
Hall became the social media manager for the team not because of a position opening but rather because of persistence and desire. The Kings, who work full-time jobs in addition to running the non-profit and taking care of their two children, were only able to post ever so often on the Team Hoyt Arizona Facebook page.
Seeing a lack of platform for the impressive people taking part in these races, Hall noticed that the multi-talented athletes were not properly showcased and decided that she would spearhead efforts to highlight that disabled athletes are not a monolith.
“There's more to our athletes than just their disability and being able to run,” Hall said.
By humanizing the athletes that she knows so well, Hall is able to portray them in their full scope. Hall spoke of an athlete who runs with team Hoyt with a very special talent.
“We have an athlete with severe autism that writes the beautifulest poems, like his poetry is just stunning, but he is non-verbal,” Hall said.
The role gives the community a peek into who disabled athletes can be and how similar they are to those still unfamiliar with their diagnosis or condition. Her role never could have happened without Team Hoyt Arizona being able to loan chairs to new members.
Team Hoyt Arizona’s athletes are travelers. They have run and rolled in events all across the nation, in states including Nevada, Massachusetts, California, and more. There is even a Team Hoyt affiliate in Canada, making the group international.
These athletes are given the confidence to remove themselves from their comfort zones and feel a part of something uplifting and constructive. Some athletes even feel empowered enough to conquer their fears.
King referenced an athlete who was never apart from his mother or father unless they were in school. She said that because of racing events, he was able to be separated from them for the first time and be pushed on during a race by his cousins. According to King, after the race, the athlete expressed being able to feel like every other kid.
Team Hoyt Arizona contacted the Tucson Police Department but has been unsuccessful in recovering their belongings.
Due to an overwhelming amount of public support, including a GoFundMe, which was tallied at $13,440 at the time of writing this article, the new custom replacement chairs are expected to be in Tucson sometime in October.
(Screen capture from Team Hoyt Arizona Facebook page. The GoFundMe was a large success.)
“It was kind of a blessing in disguise,” Hall said when speaking about how the robbery reinforced her belief within and appreciation for the local running community. A sentiment that King shared as well.
“It feels like we have purpose again. You've been doing this for so long. You're just like, why do I keep running? I'm getting too old, I hurt my leg, everything hurts now, I'm tired, I worked all day... And then all of a sudden, you're like, ‘Oh yeah, I got to do this because my kid loves it,” King said. “My kid wants to be out here doing this. It renewed our purpose again.”
Tucsonans can see Team Hoyt Arizona sporting their iconic red shirts at the University of Arizona campus on Oct. 8th for Jim Click's Run n Roll event. King expressed optimism that all the missing equipment will be replaced before Team Hoyt Arizona has to turn down any more athletes.
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