The TriquisÕ Emilio Rangel Quezada #6 lays the ball up as the LootÕs Cameron Hatch #3 and Joseph Vesagas #11 defend during an exhibition basketball game at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Emilio Rangel Quezada #6 shoots during an exhibition basketball game against the Loot at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Members of the Indigenous Academy of Mexico (AIM) Triquis and the Loot basketball teams during an exhibition basketball game at Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Coach Sergio Ramirez Zúñiga talks with his team before an exhibition basketball game against the Loot at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Efren Martínez Marin #4 passes the ball while surrounded by Loot defenders during an exhibition basketball game at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Dylan Hassan Ramírez Sánchez #5 shoots as the Loot’s Ben Miranda-Arroyo #24 defends during an exhibition basketball game at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Emilio Rangel Quezada #6 grabs a rebound during an exhibition basketball game against the Loot at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Tobias de Jesús Bautista #13 lays the ball up as the Loot’s Ben Miranda-Arroyo #24 and Michael Ojeda #12 defend during an exhibition basketball game at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis and the Loot during an exhibition basketball game at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Julian Cuevas #8 lays the ball up during an exhibition basketball game against the Loot at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Loot coach Josh Karalnick talks with his team before an exhibition basketball game against the Indigenous Academy of Mexico (AIM) Triquis at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis and the Loot during an exhibition basketball game at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Julian Cuevas #8 reacts after sinking a 3-point shot during an exhibition basketball game against the Loot at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Emilio Rangel Quezada #6 smiles during an exhibition basketball game against the Loot at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Efren Martínez Marin #4 and Emilio Rangel Quezada #6 defend as Loot’s Joseph Vesagas #11 shoots during an exhibition basketball game at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Efren Martnez Marin #4 shoots during an exhibition basketball game against the Loot at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Indigenous Academy of Mexico Coach Sergio Ramrez Zúñiga talks with his team before an exhibition basketball game against the Loot at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Dylan Hassan Ramírez Sánchez #5 moves towards the basket and the Loot’s Chris Flores #10 defends during an exhibition basketball game at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Dylan Hassan Ramírez Sánchez #5 drives to the hoop as the Loot’s Jacob Heflin defends during an exhibition basketball game at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Efren Martínez Marin #4 battles with the Loot’s Jacob Hefiln #5 and Nathan Alvarado #35 during an exhibition basketball game at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
People take photos of the Indigenous Academy of Mexico Triquis and the Loot basketball teams during an exhibition basketball game at Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Triquis’ Efren Martínez Marin #4 hugs the Loot’s Nathan Alvarado #35 after an exhibition basketball game at the Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, CA. Monday, July 29, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Six years ago, when a group of youngsters who called themselves the Triquis, from Oaxaca, Mexico, came to Los Angeles to play basketball, most didn’t have basketball shoes and had learned in their native country to play barefooted.
Back then, barely much older than 10 and 11, they had never dreamed they’d even have the chance to play in the United States.
Then again, these youngsters had ambition, fueled by a love of a sport played for generations in their country. They were, after all, the group of children who would become known as ‘Niños Triquis,’ who in 2013 found fame after winning an international basketball tournament in Argentina — again, with many of its players competing barefoot.
Triquis kids basketball team, from the mountainous region of Oaxaca, Mexico, who have been called the “Barefoot Champions of the Mountain,” are known throughout their native Mexico for playing basketball without shoes took on the local Top Flight boys team at the Pacific Boys Lodge in Woodland Hills, CA Wednesday, December 18, 2013. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Triquis kids basketball team, from the mountainous region of Oaxaca, Mexico, who have been called the “Barefoot Champions of the Mountain,” are known throughout their native Mexico for playing basketball without shoes took on the local Top Flight boys team at the Pacific Boys Lodge in Woodland Hills, CA Wednesday, December 18, 2013. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Triquis kids basketball team, from the mountainous region of Oaxaca, Mexico, who have been called the “Barefoot Champions of the Mountain,” are known throughout their native Mexico for playing basketball without shoes took on the local Top Flight boys team at the Pacific Boys Lodge in Woodland Hills, CA Wednesday, December 18, 2013. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Triquis kids basketball team, from the mountainous region of Oaxaca, Mexico, who have been called the “Barefoot Champions of the Mountain,” are known throughout their native Mexico for playing basketball without shoes took on the local Top Flight boys team at the Pacific Boys Lodge in Woodland Hills, CA Wednesday, December 18, 2013. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Triquis kids basketball team, from the mountainous region of Oaxaca, Mexico, who have been called the “Barefoot Champions of the Mountain,” are known throughout their native Mexico for playing basketball without shoes took on the local Top Flight boys team at the Pacific Boys Lodge in Woodland Hills, CA Wednesday, December 18, 2013. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Triquis kids basketball team, from the mountainous region of Oaxaca, Mexico, who have been called the “Barefoot Champions of the Mountain,” are known throughout their native Mexico for playing basketball without shoes took on the local Top Flight boys team at the Pacific Boys Lodge in Woodland Hills, CA Wednesday, December 18, 2013. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Triquis kids basketball team, from the mountainous region of Oaxaca, Mexico, who have been called the “Barefoot Champions of the Mountain,” are known throughout their native Mexico for playing basketball without shoes took on the local Top Flight boys team at the Pacific Boys Lodge in Woodland Hills, CA Wednesday, December 18, 2013. (Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
So, on a recent Monday, at Pacific Lodge Youth Services gym in Woodland Hills, there they were. They were back on a U.S. hardcourt for a friendly game with the Loot, a team comprised of local high school athletes — a game that united cultures for the love of hoops, something this group of young people has made part of their growing up.
This time, members of the Indigenous Academy of Mexico (AIM) Triquis basketball team had returned with shoes and the experience of traveling the world to compete.
Loot coach Josh Karalnick, who led the team that the Triquis played 6-years ago, was happy to see the Mexican team return to Los Angeles to play. The event was held to raise donations for AIM – so the team would be able to continue to play in tournaments around the world.
After the clock expired in their Woodland Hills exhibition game, players from the Triquis (which in meaning refers to indigenous, Triqui-speaking people of part of the Mexican state of Oaxaca) shook hands with players from the Loot. The Triquis defeated the Loot 52-43 during a hard-fought battle on the hardwood. The Mexican team has been in town for several days, and plans to return home later in August.
The Indigenous Academy of Mexico was founded in 2009 by former professional basketball player Sergio Ramirez Zúñiga to help youth in the impoverished Oaxaca area achieve a better life through education and sports.
Zúñiga said: “The hope is to change the culture of the American dream so that they do not have to come here to work illegally, but to go to college and have a higher expectation for their lives through sports.”
Students at the academy must maintain a high level of academics while studying their native languages or one that interests them, and they must read at least one book every 15 days. In the 10-years since AIM has opened, Zúñiga says he has seen the students grow in their discipline, work habits and values, and hopes to see them take these things on to the university level.
Although the teenagers competing against each other on the court were from very different places, when they played basketball, they were the same.
Francisco Cuevas, a local father who helped organize the game, echoed that point.
“It’s a good example of how we can learn from each other,” he said. “It can be sports. It can be arts. It can be anything.”
In the end, he added: “I believe the message is, we are the same. They want to succeed in life.”
