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NWBA Athlete of the Week - Brian Bell

By NWBA, 11/25/15, 7:30AM CST

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Weekly Installment featuring men's and women's Team USA players

Brian Bell, is a Paralympic hopeful, aiming to make his first U.S. Paralympic team next year.  He has been instrumental in helping Team USA capture a World Championship silver medal in 2014 as well as the Parapan Am gold medal earned in Toronto this past August.

In the championship game at the 2015 Parapan Ams, the U.S. men’s teams triumphed over Canada, 62-39. Bell  scored 12 points in the finals. Team USA also qualified for the Rio 2016 Paralympics at the Parapan Am Games.

Name:         Brian Bell
Height:         6’1”
Classification:     4.5
Date of Birth:     February 24, 1989
Place of Birth:     Birmingham, Ala.
Hometown:         Birmingham, Ala.
Residence:         Milan, Italy
High School:     Holtville High School, Deatsville, Ala.

College:         University of Illinois at Champaign- Urbana
Working towards degree in Kinesiology

Career Highlights:     2015, Parapan Am Games, gold medal
2014, World Wheelchair Basketball Championships, silver medal
2013 Americans Championships, gold medal 
2013-14 Italian League Champion
2010- NWBA Intercollegiate National Championship, gold medal.

Personal Background: Louvenia Bell is Brian’s mom and has a younger brother, Ian, who lives in Birmingham, Ala. Brian is married to Diane and they have two daughters, Kaylan (3 years old) and Lia (10 months old).

Hobbies: Cooking, baking and playing video games.

Q&A with Brian:

NWBA: You recently represented wheelchair basketball as a Paralympic hopeful for the Road to Rio NBC promo shoot.  How was the experience?
Brian: The trip was amazing.  I met a bunch of great people.  People like one of the U.S. women’s soccer team members and a Judo gold medalist.  It was a great mix of Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

NWBA: Can you share a memorable moment?
Brian: After the photo shoot was done, after a long day, a bunch of us went to dinner at the hotel.  If we saw anyone sitting alone we invited them to come join us.  It was a lot of fun.

NWBA:  Who is your hero?
Brian: My mom. 

NWBA:  When did you start playing wheelchair basketball? 
Brian: I was 12 when I saw my first game of wheelchair basketball. My mom discovered a Paralympic training center, the Lakeshore Foundation, in Birmingham, where I fell in love with wheelchair basketball after attending sports camps for children with disabilities.

NWBA: Do you play any other sports? Did you receive any awards from other sports?
Brian: I played middle school football.

NWBA: What was your favorite memory of the Parapan Am games this summer?
Brian:  Winning gold, it was great.

NWBA: Do you play or have you ever played on an overseas wheelchair basketball team?
Brian: I have been playing professional basketball for the past two years in Italy with the team, Briantea84.  This is my third season.

NWBA: Do you have any pre-game rituals or superstitions?
Brian: I meditate and have quiet time and do positive imagining before a game.

NWBA: Why do you play wheelchair basketball?
Brian: I always loved the sport.  I just love the game.

NWBA: What is your favorite basketball moment?
Brian: My first year winning the Gold medal at the U23 World Championships in Birmingham, England.  I was 16 years old.

NWBA: Do you have any pets?
Brian: I have a male pitbull mix that I adopted from an animal shelter.

NWBA: What is a short term goal?  
Brian: To make my first Paralympic team in 2016. With my team in Italy I want to win all the Cups (Super Copa and Copa Italia) and the league championship this season.  

NWBA:  What are your long term goals?
Brian: I would like to earn my degree in Kinesiology and would like to coach basketball and become a personal trainer.

NWBA: What is a fun fact you want to share?
Brian: I used to draw when I was younger.

NWBA: How are you spending this Thanksgiving?
Brian: With my family and with my friend and fellow U.S. teammate, Jared Arambula, who is also playing for a nearby team here in Italy.

Photo credit: Joe Kusumoto