Amber Melgoza is Fearless

by Mason Kelley

By Washington Huskies

February 11^th, 2019

On the rare occasion Amber Melgoza isn’t being aggressive on the basketball court, those who know her best have the perfect pitch to get her back on track.

All they have to do is remind her of the 3-year-old daredevil who ditched the training wheels on her dirt bike (yes, one with an engine) to zip around the neighborhood of her Santa Barbara home. They can toss out the memory of the 6-year-old who, despite being the only girl in most of the BMX events she competed in, won just about every race.

Washington’s standout junior has always been fearless.

It is that fearless mentality that pushes her to success on the basketball court. It was nurtured on the dirt BMX course at Elings Park in Santa Barbara, Calif.

“When I was 3 years old, I was a tomboy,” Melgoza said after a recent practice. “I was always dressed in t-shirts and shorts, never dresses. I was always willing to try new things.”

In those early years, Melgoza was always on a bike. During camping trips, she would spend hours circling the camp site.

She quickly realized she was as competitive as she was fearless.

“I got really good at racing against guys when I was 5 years old,” she said. “I started competing in national events, traveling to different states. When I was 6 years old, I was winning every race against all guys. There weren’t many girls who did it, so I was always willing to go against them.”

Melgoza earned a trip to Kentucky to compete in a national event. Her hair was so short, it was hidden under her helmet, but Melgoza’s mother, Robin, wanted to make it clear that the superstar crossing the finish line first was a girl.

“My mom spray painted my whole bike pink and my helmet pink,” Melgoza said. “I was the only bright bike out there. It was really cool to have that.”

Decked out in all pink, she once again finished first, claiming a trophy twice as tall as she was.

“I was this little, small girl and the trophy was six-feet tall,” she said. “It was kind of cool. It was big for a girl to beat all these guys. Everybody kind of knew me.”

She was the kid who was always throwing the football, always running around barefoot, always keeping up with the boys in the neighborhood. But after winning that title, she was also the kid who had TV cameras show up at her school to interview the young star.

“It was kind of cool,” Melgoza said. “It was like I had a little paparazzi following me around, but I was so innocent. I didn’t know what to say.”

At the time, though, Melgoza was more concerned about the new bike jacket and helmet her father, Jamie, had promised her as a reward for winning the big race.

“I was all about the gear,” she said.

As Melgoza got older, her interests changed. She shifted her attention from BMX to basketball.

“I kind of just walked away,” she said.

The fearless daredevil traded her bike for a ball. Now she plays the way she raced.

“That (racing) had an impact on me,” she said. “When I’m out here, I’ll have a little flashback. I was a little girl who wasn’t afraid to go against anybody. I wasn’t afraid to go against guys and beat them. I wasn’t afraid of anything.”

When asked if there’s anything she’s afraid of these days, Melgoza laughed.

“I’ll try anything,” she said. “And, I’ll do it first, sure.”

After watching and learning from Washington’s senior class in her first year, Melgoza has taken the lessons learned and used them to grow as a player. She is now the Huskies’ leader in Year Three.

Her time at Washington has gone fast, but there is still more to do, a season to finish. One thing remains certain: No matter what happens in the future, Melgoza will continue to attack each challenge like the little girl who won all those BMX races.