'I always feel like life is more about how you rebound when like bad things happen': From setbacks to championships at UW Whitewater

 

WHITEWATER, Wis. (CBS 58) -- When it comes to producing Olympic athletes, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater's got it. Its wheelchair basketball program, founded in 1973, is well known, not just for its athleticism, but for what it gives players on the inside too.

Athletes go hard at this afternoon scrimmage on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. That's Emily Oberst, a 2016 Brookfield Central High School graduate, and Jake Williams, a 2009 Greenfield High School graduate. Both are strong competitors in adaptive sports, but heart break is what got them here.

In middle school sports and friends were Oberst's world.

"And I was a pretty active teenager. I played golf, softball and basketball," said Emily Oberst, Team USA Women's Wheelchair Basketball.

But that world fell apart at age 12. Pain in her leg wouldn't go away. Oberst was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Ewing Sarcoma has just 200 new cases a year, attacking Oberst's leg, but also her spirit.

"And I was told I would never be able to run or jump again which I thought meant I could never play sports again," said Oberst.

Oberst battled it for two years with multiple surgeries and 17 rounds of chemotherapy.

"And each round varied from three to five-day hospital stays so it was pretty intense," said Oberst.

While she did regain the use of her legs, the surgeries stole her ability to run and jump, but she found one sport cancer couldn't mess with, golf. The local paper picked up her inspirational story and life changed, this time for the better.

"A coach of the local wheelchair basketball team saw my story and asked me to come see a practice and ever since I saw the sport I fell in love and then kind of reignited that passion for sports again," said Oberst.

But Oberst had questions. How could she compete in wheelchair basketball when she could still use her legs? She was told they evaluate whether a disability prevents you from playing the able-bodied sport.

"You are given a number based on how functional like your abs, your arms, your whole body is and it's ranked from 1.0 to 4.5 Somebody who maybe has a high spinal cord injury they can't really use their abs or like other parts of their body as well so that would be a 1.0," said Oberst,

Oberst is now part of Team USA which made it to the Paris Paralympics this summer, bringing home a silver medal.

Emily Oberst comes back to Wisconsin frequently choosing to practice here at UW Whitewater which produces some of the best wheelchair basketball athletes in the world. This scrimmage alone has four players with ties to Team USA.

"It's pretty intense. We have three to four lifts a week, three to four conditioning sessions and on top of that you actually play basketball, scrimmage with local teams we travel to Colorado Springs once a month to practice with the team so," said Oberst.

At UW-Whitewater, Oberst enjoys pushing her skills even further with other Olympic athletes like Josie Dehart who's an alternate for Team USA.

"Everybody just wants to play 24-7 like you don't really see a lot of colleges that are scrimmaging every single day and actually having everybody in the gym, so I think that is what's really special about here, everybody just wants to play and be the best so," said Dehart.

UW-Whitewater men's wheelchair basketball coach Jake Williams thinks that stems from years of good leadership.

"I think just the culture that was created here by the coaches before me like Tracy Chynoweth and Jeremy Lade, they created a culture and an atmosphere of you know fun and working hard," said Williams.

Williams is on the men's Team USA. The 2009 Greenfield High School grad credits UW-Whitewater's program with getting him there.

"That's what makes it unique here at Whitewater because so many alumni have been to paralympics and have won medals coming here and still scrimmage with us from 3-5," said Williams.

Like Oberst, Williams was athletic as a teen but had to put sports on hold after he got hit by a car while riding his bicycle to McCarty Park where he was a lifeguard.

"I don't really remember it. I just remember the back of my wheel on my bike getting hit and then everything went black. I definitely knew something happened because right when the paramedics came and flipped me over on my back it hurt so bad, so I knew I broke my back immediately," said Williams.

News from his doctors that he would never regain the use of his legs was shattering.

"I thought everything was gonna be different. So, the physical pain the physical therapy was definitely extremely hard, but I think definitely the emotional toll it took was way harder than the physical toll for sure," said Williams.

Someone suggested wheelchair basketball to the 16-year-old and life got better again.

"I think playing basketball is the number one thing that helped me get out of that," said Williams.

Williams became the youngest man on the 2016 paralympic team in Rio De Janeiro. He went on to compete in the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo and became MVP of the team in Paris this summer. This is his gold medal.

"Us as a team definitely put on a great performance throughout the whole tournament. It was definitely out of the three paralympics, it was definitely the best experience for sure of all three of them," said Williams.

In this scrimmage, Williams is joined by another member of Team USA. AJ Fitzpatrick recalls the Paris games with a smile.

"It was definitely an emotional roller coaster. I had my mom, and sister came out to Paris to watch me and support me and yea, there was quite a few tears shed," said Fitzpatrick.

Young men and women, bouncing back and making this season their best, surrounding themselves with others who are also remaining positive despite life's challenges.

"When I got hurt I really I mean I was down, but I didn't really feel sorry for myself. I considered myself lucky that I didn’t get killed or hurt worse or anything like that, so I think a lot of that's about perspective and how you make of it," said Williams.

"I always feel like life is more about how you rebound when like bad things happen and I know that's a basketball reference, but it's really, you can't always control your circumstances or diagnosis. I mean I couldn't always see the light at the end of the tunnel all the time but eventually you know years later now I'm so thankful for all my experiences and like I would not change a thing in my life so," said Oberst.