DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) – Sports has the ability to test players limitations and teach them life lessons. One local coach is using his own life to show his players that no matter the obstacle, there is a way to move forward.
Levy Sanchez is a former division 2 athlete, who is not just coaching basketball, but coaching life.
At 26-year-old he is leading the inaugural women’s team at Millennia Atlantic University(MAU) in Doral.
He is shaping their future while drawing strength from a lifelong journey of playing sports.
“Again granted I can’t do it the way I used to. When there were stuff going on or I needed to let a little bit out I could count on sports,” said Levy Sanchez, Macaws head coach.
For Sanchez, basketball wasn’t just a sport, it was a home.
“He scored I think 55 points on his own,” said his father, Levy Sanchez Sr. “Suddenly after that he was treated like Dwayne Wade but that was his time right there.”
But life has a way of testing those who love something deeply.
During his collegiate career at Spring Hill College in Alabama, Levy faced his greatest challenges: two devastating knee injuries.
The injuries occurred years apart, on opposite knees.
“The devastation that I left from there, ‘I was like is it really worth all this?” he questioned.
Despite the physical and emotional toll, Levy refused to let his scars define him.
“These scars are going to be there no matter what but they’re not going to affect anything that I do,” he said.
Levy’s passion for the game never waivered, even when his playing career was cut short.
Instead, he found a new way to stay in the game.
“I know how to play the game. If I can play it, why can’t I coach it?” he said.
Through all of his challenges, Levy connects deeply with his players.
To them, he’s more than just a coach.
“Respect doesn’t have an age, so I feel like if you give respect. Respect will be given. I feel like with Coach Levy he definitely understands where were coming from,” said Amanda Montufar, Macaw player.
Just as it seemed like life was giving Levy a break yet, another obstacle came about.
Only a month after beginning his coaching career, a car accident left Levy with nerve damage, stealing any feeling from his neck to his fingertips.
“This one is heartbreak, very much, because I’ve lost my life physically. Granted I can fix the knee injury. This doesn’t look like there’s a hope to fix,” he said.
This injury might’ve broken someone else, but not Levy.
Despite the daily challenges his journey is a testament to the power of persistence and he hopes his story inspires others.
“We couldn’t be any prouder. He has outdone any of our expectations of what his possibilities were and as a parent you couldn’t ask for anything else from a kid,” said his mother, Regina Sanchez.
“I’ve learned that if I give up that it doesn’t do me any good, so if I got to put myself through the pain to go hoop I’m going to do it,” said Levy.
The MAU Macaws are playing as an exploratory team they are hoping to move up to the NCWA level.
Levy Sanchez continues to lead with determination, proving that resilience is the key to achieving any dream.
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