All-Star Legacy Most Inclusive Workout with Adaptive Training Foundation

Brandi Fields, who is paralyzed from the waist down, was among about 100 people who gathered at Globe Life Field to do push-ups, sit ups, obstacle courses and other exercises as part of the nonprofit Adaptive Training Foundation’s “Most Inclusive Workout” on July 14 during the 2024 All-Star Week.
Fields, who now uses a wheelchair after she was shot three times by a relative, said it was inspirational to see people of all ages and abilities challenging themselves during the nonprofit’s free community workout on the ballpark’s field.
“I loved that we had this workout and, you know, kids were out here and they could see like people in chairs or with crutches and see like, okay, they're capable as well,” Fields said. “You know, I always like to say handy, capable, not handicapped because there is no cap to what we can do.”
As a lasting legacy from All-Star Week, Major League Baseball and the Texas Rangers sponsored Adaptive Training Foundation’s ReDefine Program, which provides a range of health and wellness services at no cost to veterans, first responders and other individuals with paralysis, amputations, or other life-altering injuries.
“MLB Together, part of our values is to reduce equity gaps and to be inclusive,” said April Brown, MLB’s senior vice president of social responsibility in an article on the MLB website. “We also always honor those who have served our country, so this all inclusive workout allows us to both honor veterans who have served our country and then also those who have experienced a traumatic injury either physically or mentally.
“Adaptive Training Foundation is mind, body and soul, and it really speaks to the values of MLB Together,” Brown added.
The MLB and Rangers’ support for Adaptive Training Foundation also included the donation of a custom “Battle Wagon,” which will allow the nonprofit to bring its ReDefine Program to even more places beyond their Carrollton headquarters.
“Our fans come from a five-state territory and all of Texas, so having the opportunity to bring this program to areas like Midland-Odessa and South Texas is so important,” said Karin Morris, the Rangers’ senior vice president of community impact and the executive director of the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation. “This gives them that opportunity to go train the trainer and expand their programming beyond their gym. It’s really exciting to help Texans across Texas.”
Former Rangers outfielder Kevin Mench and former pitcher Shawn Tolleson were among those at the Most Inclusive Workout, encouraging participants such as Fields and Daniel Oquendo. Oquendo, who lost his left arm, completed a series of one-armed push ups on the field.
“I got sideswiped towards the guardrail, flipped a couple of times and I had my arm out of the vehicle. And then one of those flips, I eventually got under my car, and that's when I had traumatic injury,” Oquendo said. “We all have some sort of trauma in our lives, whether it be physical or emotionally. So just to have everybody unite as one big family, a community, it's just very unifying.”
David Vobora, Adaptive Training Foundation’s founder and CEO, developed a passion for helping those with life-altering injuries find life-fulfilling adaptive performance training through his friendship with U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills, a quadruple amputee. With the help of private donations, the nonprofit’s nine-week ReDefine Program provides customized physical, mindfulness and mental training to groups of individuals experiencing similar struggles.
“There's people that have been handed crazy hands of adversity out here, car accidents, bombs gone off, spinal cord injury, you know, neurological disease. Some scars you can see and some of you don't. But the collective is everybody empowered to come out and try, to push themselves a little bit further than is comfortable,” Vobora said.