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Queens College student becomes first CUNY athlete to try
out for U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball national team
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
With a historic invitation to the
2022 Selection Camp for the U.S.
women’s wheelchair basketball
national team, Queens College student
Seira Garcia has become the
first CUNY student-athlete to be
invited to a Team USA tryout in
any sport.
The selection will take place
April 12-16 at the U.S. Olympic and
Paralympic Training Center in
Colorado Springs, CO.
“I had to read the email three
times to make sure it was real,”
Garcia said of receiving the news
of her invitation to try out for
Team USA.
Garcia credits her family, especially
her mother, for instilling in
her a sense of purpose. Her mother’s
oft-repeated mantra, “The
mind is more powerful than anything
else,” continues to sustain
Garcia.
Even after seven surgeries and
overcoming a host of other challenges,
she remains determined
and positive, she said.
“Life can be great, if you allow
it to be,” Garcia said.
Garcia was born in Florida and
raised in Puerto Rico. At the age
of 7, she was diagnosed with Legg-
Calve-Perthes, a degenerative disease
that affects the hip joint.
The condition forced her to
stop playing standing basketball
in 2014, when she was 17 years old.
Not one to be sidelined, she soon
discovered wheelchair basketball
and began playing with the
Federación de Baloncesto en Silla
de Ruedas de Puerto Rico (FEBASIRU),
Puerto Rico’s wheelchair
basketball team.
By 2016, Garcia was also playing
for the Brooklyn Nets and the
New York Liberty amateur clubs
sponsored by the local NBA and
WNBA franchises.
Garcia, a junior majoring in urban
studies at Queens College, has
been a key contributor to Team
CUNY, currently in its first year
competing in the National Wheelchair
Basketball Association
(NWBA). Garcia is Team CUNY’s
leading scorer, with an average of
16.5 points per game.
The men’s and women’s wheelchair
basketball teams, the first of
their kind in the Northeast, were
launched as a result of a 2017 City
University of New York Athletic
Conference Inclusive and Adaptive
Sports Initiative for Recreational
Intercollegiate Sports and
Competitive Athletics. The wheelchair
basketball program is based
at Queens College and Hostos
Community College.
Garcia started playing for CUNY’s
wheelchair basketball team
after Ryan Martin, CUNY director
of inclusive and adaptive sports,
reached out and persuaded her to
join in 2020.
“We are excited that Seira was
invited to compete for a spot with
Team USA. She’s had a great first
Queens College student Seira Garcia is the first CUNY student-athlete to
be invited to a Team USA tryout in any sport. Photo courtesy of CUNYAC
season and been a key part of the
launch of the women’s team at
CUNY,” Martin said. “The whole
university is behind her, and we
wish her the best of luck as she
starts her international career.”
Queens College President
Frank Wu congratulated Garcia.
“Seira demonstrates what’s
possible when we make inclusion
a priority. It presents opportunities
that change lives and build futures,”
said Queens College President
Frank Wu. “We are deeply
proud of Seira’s accomplishments
as a student and an athlete and
anticipate that more students will
be inspired to travel the path that
she’s paved toward Team USA
— and every other opportunity
that it makes possible. Everyone
at Queens College wishes her the
best of luck; we’ll be cheering her
on from here!”
The invitation to a team selection
camp puts Garcia in elite company,
as she will compete alongside
the nation’s most exceptional players.
Only 29 athletes from across
the country were invited to try out
for seated basketball, and only 12
players plus three alternates will
ultimately be selected to participate
in the Paralympic Games.
USA wheelchair basketball’s
historical success makes the United
States the world’s most decorated
national program. The men’s
and women’s wheelchair basketball
squads have combined to win
13 gold, two silver and eight bronze
medals since the Paralympic
Games began in 1960, making the
U.S. the top-scoring nation overall.
The U.S. men won the gold medal
at the 2020 Paralympic Games in
Tokyo, and the women brought
home the bronze.
After she graduates from
Queens College, Garcia plans to
earn a master’s degree in psychology
and pursue a doctorate in
sports psychology. She hopes to
provide outreach to improve the
lives of homeless people and those
recovering from addiction.
Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed
by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone at
(718) 260–4526.
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