Stephanie Wheeler

Sport: Wheelchair Basketball
Residence: Tuscaloosa , AL

Stephanie grew up in the beautiful state of North Carolina in a very small town called Norlina. She was injured in a car accident at the age of 6 years old, which left Stephanie paralyzed from the waist down. As a child, Stephanie was always interested in sports, whether it was watching or playing them. She became involved in wheelchair basketball when she was 12 years old. Stephanie began playing with a local team and also the Charlotte Jr. Hornets. From that point on, basketball has been a huge part of Stephanie‘s life.

Stephanie attended college at the University of Illinois and was a 4 year letter winner in basketball and a 2 year letter winner in track and field. While at Illinois, from 2002-2004, Stephanie was a member of 3 consecutive national championship teams. Stephanie was named to All Tournament teams in 2001, 2002, & 2004 and won the Most Improved player in 2001 and Most Valuable Player award in 2003.

In 2000, Stephanie was named alternate to the Paralympic team that competed in Sydney, Australia. In 2001, Stephanie was named a member of the National Team for the first time. She competed in the 2002 World Championships in Japan and the team won a silver medal. Stephanie was also a member of the 2004 Gold Medal winning team at the Paralympics in Athens, Greece. This past summer, Stephanie competed at the World Championship in Amsterdam and the team won a silver medal.

Stephanie is currently working on her master’s degree in Adapted Sport Education at the University of Alabama. She will be graduating in May 2007 and will continue her education for a PhD in the same area. She is the assistant coach and a member of the wheelchair basketball team on campus at Alabama.

As for Stephanie’s future, she is very focused on training for upcoming 2008 Paralympic games in Beijing. She hopes to make the team and help lead the US to another Paralympic gold. Stephanie also has aspirations to one day be the head coach of a collegiate wheelchair basketball team once her playing days are over.

Working with U.S. Paralympics® founding sponsor, The Hartford, Stephanie is helping to raise public awareness of what people with a physical disability can achieve in all aspects of life.