Courtney Ryan

Courtney Ryan
Courtney Ryan at the Kilsyth Sports Centre in May 2017
Personal information
Nationality  United States
Born (1990-09-21) 21 September 1990
San Diego, California
Height 5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Sport
Country United States
Sport Soccer, Wheelchair basketball
Disability class 2.0
Event(s) Women's team
College team Metropolitan State University of Denver, University of Arizona
Club Sydney Metro Blues

Courtney Anne Ryan (born 21 September 1990) is a 2.0 point American wheelchair basketball player who played with the national team at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Toronto in 2014. In 2017, she played for the Sydney Metro Blues in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League in Australia.

Biography

Courtney Anne Ryan was born in San Diego, California, on 21 September 1990,[1] the daughter of Kevin and Patti Ryan. She has a brother, Chris, and a sister, Caitlin. She attended Coronado High School, where she played soccer. She was Coronado's Rookie of the Year in 2007 as a junior, and as a education the following year was a first team All-Western League performer, was named to the all-section team, and was Most Valuable Player.[2]

In 2008, she entered Metropolitan State University of Denver, where she played soccer for its team, the Roadrunners. As a freshman, she played 25 games, in which she scored one goal and was credited with seven assists. In 2009, she played 24 games as a defender. She was named first team All-America and first team All-Central Region, and set a school record for defenders with 15 assists on the season.[2]

Ryan played only five games in 2010. During the fifth, against Colorado Mesa University on 8 October 2010,[2] she was tackled from behind and fell on her back. A blood clot developed that burst and leaked into her spinal cord, leaving her paralysed from the waist down. She stayed at Metro for the 2011 spring semester, then returned to San Diego. She became involved with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and took up wheelchair basketball.[3]

Pete Hughes, the head coach of the University of Arizona Wildcats women's wheelchair basketball team saw her play a game in which she sank a game-winning buzzer-beater. After the game, he offered her a scholarship. She entered the University of Arizona in the fall of 2012. She enrolled in its college of education, majoring in special education, with an emphasis in rehabilitation, planning to earn a Master's Degree in rehabilitation counselling or disability studies.[3]

Hughes was sufficiently impressed with Ryan's attitude, ability and performance that he wrote a letter of recommendation to Stephanie Wheeler, the head coach of the USA national women’s wheelchair basketball team.[3] Two weeks later, she was one on 30 players invited to try out for the national teams at tryouts held in Birmingham, Alabama. In April, she was selected for the team, making her international debut in eight games against the German national team.[3][4] She played with the national team at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Toronto in 2014.[1] The United States came fourth.[5]


In 2017, Ryan played for the Sydney Metro Blues in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League in Australia.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 "2014 Women's Wheelchair Basketball World Championship Media Guide" (PDF). Wheelchair Basketball Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Courtney Ryan - 2010 Women's Soccer Roster, Metropolitan State University of Denver Athletics, retrieved 22 May 2017
  3. 1 2 3 4 Sanelli, Mario (21 August 2013). "Courtney Ryan trades cleats for wheels". Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  4. ↑ Everett-Haynes, a Monica (18 July 2013). "Wildcats Make National Wheelchair Basketball Team". University of Arizona. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  5. ↑ "Schedule & Results". 2014 WWWBC. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "Team Home for Sydney Metro Blues". SportsTG. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  • "Interview: Courtney Ryan (USA) | 2014 IWBF Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championships". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
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