Our first ambassador

Juan Ortiz

Paralyzed at 14. Hall of Famer in wheelchair softball. Dad of three. Now he is our first ambassador, building wheelchair pickleball in Chicago for everyone who comes after him, and chasing his first US Open.

  • Wheelchair Softball Hall of Fame
  • University of Illinois basketball
  • 16 hours a week on court
Donate Read his story
Juan Ortiz turning into a forehand in his sport wheelchair
Where it started

“My journey in adaptive sports started at 14, during one of the darkest periods of my life. I was newly disabled, paralyzed by gun violence in Chicago, and struggling to accept being in a wheelchair and attending a new school.

Then I found wheelchair basketball. It completely opened my eyes to a world of pushing past limitations and breaking barriers people set for you.”

Juan, in his own words

Twenty years in the game

He’s been to the top before.

Basketball and softball

The champion

MVP
High school and men’s wheelchair basketball
Illinois
Wheelchair basketball under Coach Mike Frogley
Champion
Wheelchair softball national titles
Hall of Fame
Wheelchair Softball Hall of Fame

Always

The sports dad

Steps back from competing to be there for his three kids: practices, catch, Saturdays from diamond to diamond.

“That became my new championship.”

Now

The pioneer

  1. 2025Finds pickleball at a Chicago Park District clinic.
  2. 2026Gets the APP Tour its first wheelchair division.
  3. 2026Wins singles gold at Monster Smash.
  4. 2027The road to his first US Open.
His road to the US Open
Juan Ortiz tosses the ball to serve from his sport wheelchair
Pulled back in

Still the sports dad. A competitor again.

“That first day was hilarious and humbling. None of us knew what we were doing. If we managed to get to a third shot in a rally, everyone congratulated each other.”

“At the end of that first session, the coach asked, ‘Who’s coming back next week?’ It was an immediate, hard yes from everyone.”

“My time as a sideline cheerleader for my kids is completely nonnegotiable. I had to make a hard choice between the sports I’ve played for 20 years and this new game where I’m still grinding to learn as a rookie. I chose pickleball.”

In 2026 he passed on softball nationals to focus on it.

“It’s the first sport I’ve ever found where the wheelchair vanishes, the playing field is dead even, and I can look at absolutely anyone in the world and say, ‘Come meet me on the court.’”

Juan Ortiz

Juan Ortiz sticks his tongue out and throws his arms wide courtside, paddle in his lap
Juan Ortiz sits in his sport wheelchair with his paddle, looking straight at the camera
Building the sport

“That sport has to exist first.”

In August 2026, Juan asked the APP Tour’s Vlasic Classic for a wheelchair division, and got one: the APP’s first. Five full teams played it, more than any other amateur bracket there. When lightning stopped play outside, the tournament moved indoors and they finished it.

He has not stopped since. He is asking tournament directors for more wheelchair divisions, talking with the Chicago Park District and local adaptive programs about a Chicago program and tournament, and getting his crew, Chicago Pickleball: Wheelie Big Dills, on court every week. When a tournament has no wheelchair division, he signs up anyway and plays able bodied players.

“In basketball and softball, I was lucky to have huge, established adaptive programs supporting us. Wheelchair pickleball doesn’t have that infrastructure yet. If an adaptive athlete wants to try a sport, that sport has to exist first.”

“Selfishly, I want to build this program so I can compete at the highest level, but the real goal is building it for everyone else too.”

Juan is leading his crew’s fundraising for The Road to the US Open, and he is the first of our ambassadors. Ambassadors show the Hustle & Heart Fund where it will do the most, and we pay the clubs and vendors directly.

In the news

What others have said about Juan.

More on Chicago Adaptive Sports, our partner. Press: hello@adapttolife.org

What he plays with

The setup.

Juan's PER4MAX chair mid serve: green spokes, white frame, red rims, and orange casters
His chair

PER4MAX

Juan plays in his PER4MAX basketball chair. It was built for contact, and on the pickleball court it does double duty. He even has the Adapt To Life QR code on the frame.

What’s nextPickleball needs a lighter chair that turns quick. His next chair? Also a PER4MAX, this one built for pickleball.

Juan's Bread and Butter Loco paddle in its cover: a skull in a sombrero with two pistols, Loco in orange, and Bring The Smoke
His paddle

Bread & Butter Loco

“It’s highly rated, super user friendly, and plays with unbelievable pop and control. The moment I tried it, I was sold.”

His code JuanitoLoco

Juan is a Bread & Butter ambassador. His code takes 10% off, and his commission goes to the Hustle & Heart Fund, which keeps his crew on court every week, then on the road to the US Open. Shop Bread & Butter

“If you see me out on the court, come try my Loco yourself.”

His paddle, his code, the lineup
The road

On the road with his crew.

Juan won singles gold at Monster Smash in October. The Road to the US Open is a season of tournament travel for Chicago Pickleball: Wheelie Big Dills, ending at the US Open in Naples in spring 2027. The US Open picks players by lottery, so nothing is guaranteed. Two of his crewmates know the way: Robby Wolf has played three straight US Opens, and Brian Liss has won silver and bronze there. Juan wants to be next.

“Going to Naples brings back that giddy, nervous excitement I felt as a kid heading to my very first tournaments. It’s the ultimate proving ground.”

If his name comes up, money shouldn’t keep him home.

Every gift goes to the Hustle & Heart Fund for the Wheelie Big Dills, every week first, then the road to the US Open. How giving works

Donate The Road to the US Open
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