Beyond the Games: Calantoc finds continued purpose in competition, community

UNION CITY, GA – There was little time for retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gene Calantoc to settle back into his normal routine following the 2026 Warrior Games. Within a week of competing in San Antonio, he and his family were on the road again, headed to Detroit for the National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

Calantoc had registered for nine events. The quick turnaround didn’t bother him. Competition has become one of the main ways he stays active, connected and focused since losing his leg, and he welcomes nearly every chance to test himself in another adaptive sport.

For Calantoc, that drive is easy to explain.

"I know that adaptive sports for me is huge now," he said. "I just like to compete."

The words sound simple, but they describe something much larger than a busy sports schedule. Competition was part of Calantoc's life before his injury. Adaptive sports gave him a way to hold on to that part of himself while learning what his life could look like next. They also gave him teammates, goals and a community that keeps him from withdrawing when recovery feels heavy.

When Calantoc talks about why he continues to compete, he doesn’t begin with medals. He begins with what can happen when he stops moving toward something.

"I think if I don't do it, I'll just be in a little circle, in a dark place," Calantoc said. "So that's the reason why I keep competing."

That reason has carried him from his first Warrior Games experience at Walt Disney World Resort in 2024 to the 2026 Games in San Antonio. It continues to push him toward new sports, new teams and goals that reach well beyond a single week of competition.

A different competitor returns

When Calantoc arrived at the 2024 Warrior Games, adaptive sports were still new to him. He had the speed and instincts of an athlete, but he was still learning how those skills translated to a wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby court.

Looking back, he remembers moving quickly without always understanding where he needed to be or what the play required.

"I was just using my speed," Calantoc said. "I didn't know the game, so I was just there going back and forth."

Two years of practices and competition changed that. By the time he returned to the Warrior Games in 2026, Calantoc understood more than how to push the chair or chase the ball. He had learned how to read the court, position himself, communicate with teammates and help create space for someone else to make a play.

His experience in wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby also changed how he saw his role on the team. He was no longer the athlete trying to understand everything in real time. He could recognize what newer competitors were facing because he had once been in the same position.

That allowed him to share what he had learned instead of keeping his attention only on his own performance. "Competing this year, I took my knowledge from previous years and spread it to the team," he said.

Experience raised his expectations, too. Calantoc went to San Antonio hoping to reach the podium, especially in the team sports. The results didn’t unfold the way he wanted, but the disappointment didn’t make him step away. It gave him another target.

Calantoc already knows what he wants if another Warrior Games invitation comes in 2027 at Walt Disney World Resort.

"If they call me back, I'm ready," he said. "The goal is to go on the podium still."

More than one path forward

The Warrior Games remain important to Calantoc, but it’s not the only competition on his calendar. Since the 2026 Games, he has continued building a year-round life in adaptive sports, one that includes established leagues as well as opportunities he’s helping create in the San Antonio area.

Wheelchair basketball remains a steady part of that life. Calantoc plays with the ParaSport Spurs in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association and is entering his third year with the team. He also recently returned from a wheelchair softball World Series, where his team placed fifth after finishing seventh the year before.

Progress matters to him, whether it comes through a better finish, a smarter play or the chance to try something unfamiliar.

"I enjoy adaptive sports," Calantoc said. "It allows me to try different sports and helps keep me busy.”

One of his newest interests is wheelchair pickleball. After connecting with an adaptive sports representative during the Warrior Games, Calantoc helped start a team in Texas. The group is working toward holding regular practices, and he has begun introducing other adaptive athletes to the sport.

Calantoc sees potential in pickleball, not only as another way to compete but as a possible route toward one of his biggest goals. He hopes the sport may eventually open a path to the Paralympic Games.

"I feel like I have a chance in wheelchair pickleball," he said.

The Invictus Games are also on his list. Calantoc wants an opportunity to compete there, and he continues to build the experience that could help him pursue it. Each team, tournament and new sport adds another layer to what began as part of his recovery.

Along the way, his place in the adaptive sports community has changed. He still arrives ready to compete, but he also brings the perspective of someone who remembers being new. He can share the lessons that once took him time to learn and help other competitors see that an injury doesn’t have to end their connection to sports or living an active lifestyle.

The support behind the schedule

Calantoc's competition schedule belongs to the whole Calantoc family in some ways. Miho Calantoc has watched her husband travel from one event to the next, take on unfamiliar sports and become more confident in the community around them.

She’s seen how goals keep him focused and has also watched the relationships formed through adaptive sports bring something into his life that competition alone cannot provide.

For Miho, there’s one clear word for what adaptive sports have given her husband.

"It gives him a purpose in life," she said. "Purpose is the word. It’s something that brings him joy."

That joy has helped ease some of the fears she carried after his injury. Early on, Miho worried about what losing his leg would mean for Calantoc's physical health, his mental well-being and the way their family would move forward. She couldn’t have known then how quickly he would return to sports or how fully adaptive competition would become part of their lives.

Now she watches him compete, travel, coach and encourage others. Pride has replaced much of the uncertainty she once felt.

"I’m just proud," Miho said.

She sees that example reaching their children, too. The couple's oldest daughter plays volleyball, their second daughter plays softball, and their son plays basketball. Calantoc now coaches his son's basketball team, bringing the same patience, competitiveness and teamwork he values in adaptive sports into the gym with him.

"He's a role model for the kids as well," Miho said. "It’s something that also makes me so proud."

While coaching his son’s basketball team, Calantoc says coaching could become a larger part of his future. He says he sees himself helping athletes in wheelchair basketball, wheelchair pickleball or assist in wheelchair rugby once he is ready to spend more time on the sideline. For now, he’s not done testing himself as a competitor.

Still competing, still building

The next chapter for the Calantoc family is not built around a single finish line. It includes a more accessible home, another basketball season, developing a wheelchair pickleball team and the possibility of competing again at the Warrior Games or at the Invictus Games.

Calantoc still wants the medals. He still wants the podium. His competitive nature hasn’t softened with experience. What has changed is the meaning surrounding those goals.

Adaptive sports is giving him somewhere to direct his energy and a community that understands the work behind each appearance. It’s also given him knowledge he can pass along, whether he’s helping another competitor understand a play or coaching his son from the sideline.

Miho has seen the difference in her husband and in their family. The competitor who once relied mostly on speed now understands the game, the team and the value of staying connected. The man who could have retreated into what he described as a dark place continues to fill his calendar instead.

There will be more practices, more road trips and, if Calantoc has his way, more chances to compete on a larger stage. For now, he plans to keep doing what has carried him this far: finding the next goal and moving toward it with hopes of competing in 2027.

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