COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - The NWBA has finalized the Staff Selection Procedures with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee for the 2020 U.S. Men's and Women's National Wheelchair Basketball Teams. Based on these Staff Selection Procedures, the NWBA High Performance Staff Selection Committee has nominated the following individuals, pending approval from the USOPC, as staff for the 2020 U.S. Men's and Women's National Wheelchair Basketball Teams:

2020 U.S. Men’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team Staff

• Head Coach – Ron Lykins (Columbia, MO)
• Assistant Coach – Robb Taylor (Auburn, AL)
• Assistant Coach – John Sikora (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Team Leader – Scott Meyer (Columbia, MO)
• Medical – Mary Vacala (Savannah, GA)

2020 U.S. Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team Staff

• Head Coach – Trooper Johnson (San Lorenzo, CA)
• Assistant Coach – Amy Spangler (Madison, WI)
• Assistant Coach – Adam Kramer (Northport, AL)
• Team Leader – Kearstin Gehlhausen (Aurora, CO)
• Medical – Karla Francioni (Lexington, KY)
   

Coach Lykins is the winningest international coach in NWBA history – winning gold in three Paralympic Games (2004 and 2008 for U.S. Women; and 2016 for U.S. Men). Lykins’ head coaching resume is nothing short of amazing, having coached in 17 international competitions, reaching the gold-medal games in 16 of those events, and bringing home the top podium finish in 11 of the events. These top podium finishes include: three Paralympic Games; one World Championships; three Para Pan American Games; and four American Zonal Qualifiers. He also has a Paralympic silver medal in 1992, and four silver medals from the World Championships.

Most recently Lykins has captured a gold medal at the 2017 America’s Cup in Cali, Colombia, a silver medal at the 2018 IWBF World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, and a gold medal at the 2019 ParaPan American Games in Lima, Peru. With the gold medal finish in Lima the U.S. Men earned their qualification to the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Coach Johnson served as the assistant coach of the U.S. Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team from 2013-2016, which rolled to a gold-medal performance at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. Johnson was the assistant coach of the 2013 U.S. Men’s U23 National Team and the head coach of the 2013 U.S. Women’s U21 Team, that won a gold at the Junior ParaPan American Games in Argentina. 

Johnson led the U.S. Women to a silver medal at the 2017 America’s Cup in Cali, Columbia. Last year, he led a young-developing U.S. Women’s squad to a 4-4 record and sixth place finish at the 2018 IWBF World Championships in Hamburg, Germany. Earlier this year, Coach Johnson coached the U.S. U25 Women to a perfect 6-0 record and dominate competition to earn gold at the 2019 IWBF U25 Women’s World Championships in Suphanburi, Thailand. Most recently he led the U.S. Women to a silver medal at the 2019 ParaPan American Games in Lima, Peru. With the silver medal finish in Lima the U.S. Women earned their qualification to the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

The 2020 U.S. Men's and Women's National Wheelchair Basketball Teams will compete at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan from August 25 to September 6, 2020. 

Please see attached Staff Selection Procedures for a complete list of staff eligibility requirements and selection process.