'We ride for those who can't': How a Utah BMX track promotes inclusivity for all riders

SANTA CLARA, Washington County — A southern Utah family is changing the way BMX is viewed, one turn at a time.

"If you come out to our track, you've seen 'Talen's Turn," said Santa Clara BMX track operator Brooke Day.

Day is speaking about her nephew, Talen Vauhn, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 15. Talen was born with a mutation on his GNAO1 gene, which caused severe disabilities, including the inability to speak and walk.

"When we were building the track, we had him in mind because his two little brothers raced BMX," Day explained. "His mom and dad always had to split up to take their boys racing while one of them stayed home with Talen, and we always thought, 'How cool would it be to have a track where he could come every week?'"

Talen passed away before they were able to make modifications to the track to accommodate individuals with special needs and their families. Day said, however, that it has been her family's mission to make sure that all are included at their track.

"Our main motto at our track is, 'We ride for those who can't ride for themselves,'" Day said. "We built the track around wheelchair accessibility. Everybody's welcome, so that's kind of the atmosphere that we love to have here."

Along with accessible parking, the track has other accommodations for individuals with special needs.

"If you have a child in a wheelchair or a child with special needs, one parent has to stay home," Day said. "We have wheelchair ramps, and then we have this room that was specially built after Talen."

The room, Day explained, is for "anybody with special needs," featuring a large window to see the track, along with comfortable seating, air conditioning and heating.

"It's really there for anybody that needs it, so families can come together and support each other," she added. "That's what's near and dear to our heart. Racing is amazing, but at the end of the day, what is awesome is bringing families together."

BMX family

Brooke Day and husband Kelly Day have four children — all of whom have been successful in BMX in their own right. Many have competed on national and world stages. In fact, two of their children, Killian Day and Hailey Vaughn, are currently serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and both have competed on a BMX world stage.

Hailey Vaughn, 19, has also been featured in an article on the church's website, sharing her story as she aligns faith with riding BMX.

"Through BMX and other experiences, I've learned that, with God, my whole life can be a great ride — more than I could have ever expected," Vaughn wrote in that article. "When I invite God into my life, he blesses me physically, mentally and spiritually."

Brooke Day said that since opening Santa Clara BMX in 2020, they have always tried to foster a sense of community, love and support for all walks of life, adding that prayer has played a large part.

"We do the national anthem before every race and a give prayer before the flag lap," Brooke Day said. "We also open it up to all the denominations, so it's kind of like bringing community together. Anybody can either say a prayer or an uplifting quote — it doesn't have to be a prayer, but something that fosters community togetherness.

"It's kind of amazing — like, how rad is it to have this place and community," she added. "We've had people that have traveled out of state and said, 'Man, this is cool. I wish more tracks did this.'"

The all-inclusive community is something that Kelly Day, who previously ran Rad Canyon BMX in northern Utah, said is often felt in the BMX world, adding that the Santa Clara track is really hoping to promote that more.

"Most tracks that I've experienced surely have that feeling like you're safe there and it's nice atmosphere," Kelly Day said. "It's all about the environment that you create. Long before I got here, Brooke established our track to be an amazing place."

The Santa Clara BMX track operates as a nonprofit organization under Santa Clara Utah BMX and is all volunteer-based.

The couple's youngest two children Asher, 14, and Hannah, 11, who both compete at a high level, run the concession stand and spend a lot of time with young riders. They both said that their favorite part about the sport of BMX is the people they have met along the way.

"We've had parents who have said, 'You guys have created an environment where kids want to be kind to each other,'" Brooke Day said. "We live in a world where everybody wants to be the best, and every parent wants to create the best. I think we need to go back to a world where people just need to be kind, and we need to have environments for kids to want to be the change and the good in the world. I truly do feel like we have created an environment at the track that fosters that."

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