More Than a Game: Angel Guzman, His Family, and the Power of Adaptive Sports

By the time Angel Guzman was five years old, sports had already begun shaping the course of his life.

Born with Spina Bifida Myelomeningocele, hydrocephalus, bladder dysfunction, clubfoot, and strabismus, Angel began using a wheelchair at an early age. From the moment of diagnosis, his parents, Jose and Erika Guzman, were told his future would come with limitations, especially when it came to mobility and long-term health.

“At two years old, he got his first wheelchair,” Jose recalls. “From there, he showed us he wanted to move everywhere.”

Determined to help their son stay active and discover his potential, the Guzmans began searching for adaptive sports opportunities. When Angel was five, they found adaptive sports clinics that introduced him to sled hockey, wheelchair basketball, and track and field. What started as a way to keep an energetic child healthy quickly became something far greater: a pathway to confidence, discipline, and belonging.

“My parents always wanted the best for me,” Angel says. “When opportunities came up, they encouraged me to try, even when it wasn’t easy.”

Finding those opportunities required sacrifice. Adaptive sports programs were not close to home, and the family often traveled up to three hours each way to practices and clinics in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, or Santa Clarita. Weekends were spent on the road. Work schedules were adjusted. Ice time was limited, sometimes just one hour a week, but Angel committed to every chance to train and improve.

There were concerns, especially early on. Sled hockey is a physical sport, and Angel has a shunt to manage excess fluid in his brain. His parents worried about contact and safety, but they also believed their son deserved the chance to explore his limits.

“He needed to try,” Jose says. “To understand what he could do and what he couldn’t.”

What Angel could do, it turned out, was compete.

After years of consistent training, his skills began to stand out. At age 14, during a national championship in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Angel caught the attention of sled hockey coach DJ Wilson. After watching him compete, Coach Wilson asked a question that would change everything: Would Angel consider playing sled hockey at Penn State?

“And here we are,” Jose says.

Angel joined the State College Coyotes, Penn State’s sled hockey team, as part of Penn State Adaptive Athletics. The sense of belonging was immediate. During just his second tournament with the team, the Coyotes went undefeated, finishing 4–0.

“We had each other’s backs on and off the ice,” Angel says. “It felt like family.”

As a collegiate adaptive athlete, Angel has found more than competition. He has gained confidence, pride in representing Penn State, and motivation to pursue his education alongside athletics.

“My confidence has gone way up,” he says. “I know now that I can compete against tough opponents. I feel like I belong.”

Off the ice, Angel has become a mentor, taking time to encourage younger athletes to try different sports and discover what they love. He embodies what adaptive sports make possible: physical achievement, leadership, resilience, and community.

For Jose and Erika, the journey has reshaped their lives as much as it has shaped their son’s.

“We were told his future might be very limited,” Jose reflects. “Now we are supporting him through challenges, fighting alongside him against barriers in society, and drawing strength from watching him keep moving forward.”

The Guzmans want others to understand the dedication required of adaptive athletes and the families behind them.

“These athletes train just as hard as any other collegiate athlete,” Angel emphasizes.

This is where Rise Above: Friends of Penn State Adaptive Athletics plays a guiding role.

Rise Above: Friends of Penn State Adaptive Athletics exists to help families and athletes navigate the adaptive sports pathway, connecting opportunity to potential and ensuring that programs like Penn State Adaptive Athletics can thrive. Through donor support, Rise Above: Friends of Penn State Adaptive Athletics helps provide equipment, travel, training opportunities, and scholarships so student-athletes like Angel can compete, belong, and pursue a Penn State education.

When you give throughRise Above: Friends of Penn State Adaptive Athletics, you are not just supporting a program. You are helping guide athletes forward, removing barriers, and strengthening a community built on possibility and perseverance.

Angel’s story is not just about overcoming obstacles. It is about family, persistence, and the power of opportunity.

Guided by Rise Above: Friends of Penn State Adaptive Athletics and supported by Penn State Adaptive Athletics, it is a story that continues on campus, in competition, and in life.