Resume of Amber Anne DeLuca - GladiatorGirl.com -
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Published on: 3/13/2006
Last Visited: 10/1/2009
Portons of this story, were previously published in a story written about Amber DeLuca in 1997.
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Not so with Amber DeLuca, a 5'9", 196 lbs member of the Omaha nation, one of the most recently hired American Gladiators, " Apache," and lifelong athlete competing in national and international team sports and strength events.
De Luca, 34, received a four-year scholarship to play volleyball at Gannon University, in Erie, Pa.
She earned her degree in Communications/English, by hammering and blocking volleyballs as a stand-out middlehitter.
DeLuca possessed a 33" leap, easily swiping the rim of a basketball hoop, enabling her to rewrite the record books and leading the National Collegiate Athletic Conference Division II Volleyball in kills and blocks.
In 1989, DeLuca lead the team to their first ever NCAA national appearance.
DeLuca's volleyball coach, Gerry Burbules, was relentless in grooming Amber into becoming on of the most feared volleyball players on the East coast.
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Burbules quickly noted DeLuca's leaping ability and quickness, and immediately converted her from an outside hitter to a middle hitter, the most dynamic, explosive position on the team.
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DeLuca dominated Division II volleyball from 1985-1990, capturing the East Coast Athletic Conference All-Regional player honors three years in a row.
In 1988, DeLuca met up with an Apache Indian, original creator of the American Gladiators, Dann Carr.
Back in the late 80's, DeLuca would analyze the Gladiator games after volleyball practice, and dream about one day becoming a Gladiator.
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Carr took DeLuca under his wing, training her at the Erie, PA Lower East Side Federation Gym.
Under Carr's tutelage, DeLuca too home first place armwrestling trophies in several charity events, as well as the 1990 Northcoast Championships, held in Cleveland, Ohio.
DeLuca enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1990, serving one tour of duty at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico.
The Information Management Specialist served in Operation Desert Storm in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
DeLuca qualified as an expert marksman in the 9mm small arms and M-16 service rifle.
Upon arriving at Cannon Air Force Base, NM, DeLuca was immediately recruited onto the Air Force Volleyball team.
She led the team to three Armed Forces Championships and the United States volleyball Championships from 1990-1993, and captured the World Military Games in 1991.
DeLuca also managed to find time to volunteer teaching rockclimbing through the Air Force's Outdoor Recreation Program, leading groups to her private rockclimbing area, where she and her husband established over several hundred routes.
DeLuca has led sport route climbs of 5.11 difficulty.
DeLuca earned the Outdoor Recreation Instructor of the year in 1992.
DeLuca also captured the most prestigious Air Force award, "Air Combat Command Athlete of the Year" in 1992.
From DeLuca's days at Cannon, and throughout her Air Force tour of duty, Carr and DeLuca envisioned on day the syndicated show would have an opening for an American Indian woman as one of the Gladiators.
DeLuca tried out as a contender several times, excelling in the try-outs, and competed as a contender on the live Tour in Amarillo, Texas in 1991.
Five years later, DeLuca contemplated participating in the Galaxy fitness competition.
"I went to the camp in Venice beach in the Fall of 1996.
At a bodyweight of 165 pounds, and still densely muscled from years of athletics, I found that I did not want to lose any of my hard earned muscle for the swim wear round, although I am confident I would excel at the obstacle course.
Instead, DeLuca opted to continue training with the intent on someday becoming a Gladiator.
In March of 1997, DeLuca's dreams had materialized.
Carr called DeLuca up, and asked her to become the next American Gladiator in the live show in Orlando, Florida.
"At the time, I was finishing classes for a Master of Science in Human Resources Management.
In May of 1997, DeLuca took a leave of absence from her job as a Security Manager at the Inn of the mountain Gods, a five-star resort/casino, owned and operated by the Mescalero Apache tribe.
"My family is very proud of me." DeLuca is the first tribally enrolled American Indian Gladiator.
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The Air Force brought DeLuca to New Mexico in 1990.
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At a bodyweight of 170 pounds, DeLuca captured titles in sportclimbing.
DeLuca won "The Game," "Climbathon," and the "On-Sight" sport climbing competitions, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
"Climbing is about facing your fears and gaining confidence in your physical abilities.
DeLuca's competitive spirit in volleyball and rockclimbing only served to spur her on to other hardbody sports.
DeLuca competed in the Billy the Kid Tombstone race in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico.
She negotiated a 100-yard obstacle course while carrying a 50-pound tombstone barehanded.
DeLuca took home the Women's Open title from 1992-1994, as well as winning the couples' division in 1994.
For the past nine years, DeLuca has volunteered her time to make guest appearances and role model within tribal communities.
DeLuca travels to the Sisseton-Wahpeton, Mescalero Apache, and Omaha nations, and Haskell University promoting health and wellness.
DeLuca particularly enjoys working with youth, encouraging them to pursue academics, athletics, and staying on the path to a drug-free lifestyle.
Topics have included: "Finding the Warrior within," "Empowering Apache Youth," "American Indians: the first Gladiators.
DeLuca has also been selected as a guest/keynote speaker at Oshman's National "Women in Sport Day" in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
When DeLuca decides to "relax," she mountain bikes into the harsh desert Tularosa basin with a Camelback and her custom Remington Rand .45 Caliber for some target practice.
Another one of DeLuca's hobbies is collecting rare, museum quality minerals at her mining claims in Bingham, New Mexico.
Or perhaps head 7,000 feet into the Sierra Blanca mountain region to pose for a friend, Artis Lane.
Lane, a world-renowned sculpture/artist, who began sketching the native woman in the spirit of a female warrior, and hope to unveil a bronze in the near distant future.
DeLuca grew up as a self-described tomboy in the village of Peninsula, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
She started swimming at age 4, tumbling/gymnastics at 8, and organized sports at 10.
"My mother was a Cub Scout den mother, and some of the most vivid recollections I have of my childhood was chasing down the boys, and knocking the wind out of them, much to my mother's dismay.
The 34-year old woman began her lifetime pursuit of fitness in high school, at the Cleveland Coliseum Fitness Center, where the Cleveland professional sports teams trained.
"My high school volleyball coach encouraged me to train on the Nautilus machines and introduced me to free weights around 1980.
DeLuca also started training at her school gym, Woodridge High in Peninsula, Ohio during her study halls and lunch breaks.
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DeLuca started out as a 5'7" 135 pound freshman, gaining approximately 10 pounds each year, graduating at 165 pounds.
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DeLuca excelled at volleyball, and track and field during her high school days.
The added weight of both feminine curve and muscle mass discouraged DeLuca in going out for the track team her senior year.
The added mass had slowed her down quite a bit, and discouraged her ambition to compete against 100 pound girls in middle distance running events, particularly since she was sporting 160 pounds.
A coach encouraged DeLuca to compete in the shot put and discus.
"I never took those events seriously.
All the runners would jeer at them as they sprinted past them.
Not to become the butt of a joke, DeLuca captured the discus record in 1985, after only a few months training without a discus coach.
"I was pretty much self-coached back then.
I would run a few sprints, hit the weights, and go home.
That was practice, and it apparently worked well enough that I broke a 10-year old record.
To this day, the record still stands."
DeLuca calls home the Chihuahuan desert basin foothills of the Sacramento Mountain range in New Mexico.
The desert landscape is a sharp contrast to the lush green rolling hills of Ohio.
Perhaps the desert foothills speak to DeLuca's innate Omaha, Shoshone-Bannock, Lakota and Ojibway American Indian blood running through her veins.
At 5 feet, 9 inches tall, she attributes her height and impressive physique to her Lakota/Ojibway father, who is 5'10" and 200 pounds, and athletic prowess to her Omaha relatives.
"The Omaha people are very tenacious; they had to be to survive.
My ancestors were nearly all wiped out from the smallpox epidemic in the late 1700's."
Always seeking a challenge, DeLuca trained under a three-time World Champion Muay Thai kickboxer, Chata Thamvongsa.
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Thamvongsa taught DeLuca the art of kickboxing, and awarded her a blackb
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