COLORADO SPRINGS, CO -The National Wheelchair Basketball Association is excited to announce the second installment of the NWBA Webinar Series, an informational series focused on helping NWBA members build knowledge, skills and abilities on focused topics. Creating resources for NWBA members is critical to helping sustain and grow the sport. Webinar topics were selected based on feedback from membership and will be presented by NWBA members who are skilled in those particular areas.

The next webinar, Coaching Education and the American Development Model, will take place on Tuesday, July 21st at 6:30 p.m. Mountain time. This session will be presented by Stephanie Wheeler and Andrea Woodson-Smith. This segment will focus on providing educational tools that are centered on athlete and coaching development within the sport of wheelchair basketball. Both Stephanie and Andrea have been working diligently on developing content relevant to this discussion. (See Bios Below)

The NWBA Webinar Series will be conducted virtually via GoToMeeting. All interested NWBA members are encouraged to participate in this webinar segment by using the information below:
 

2020 NWBA Webinar on Coaching Education & ADM
Tue, Jul 21, 2020 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM (MDT)
Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/878498405
You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: +1 (646) 749-3122
Access Code: 878-498-405
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Stephanie Wheeler

Stephanie Wheeler, head coach of women’s wheelchair basketball at the University of Illinois, is a Paralympic gold medalist, World Championship gold medalist, and collegiate national champion.  She was a member of the gold medal winning women’s wheelchair basketball team at both the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.  She was also a member and co-captain of the gold medal winning 2010 world championship team that competed in Birmingham, England. 

Originally from Norlina, North Carolina, Wheeler was recruited to play wheelchair basketball at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  During her collegiate career, she was a part of 3 consecutive national championship teams (2002-2004), earning All-American honors each of those years and MVP honors in 2003.  As head coach of the USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team, Wheeler lead the team to gold medals at the 2015 Parapan American Games and the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.  As a result of her competitive and coaching success, Wheeler was elected to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and the NWBA Hall of Fame in 2018. 

Stephanie’s passion is teaching and inclusive environments. She has conducted wheelchair basketball camps across the country and around the world; has consulted with the NCAA on inclusion of athletes with disabilities; and is actively involved with athlete and coaching curriculum development for wheelchair basketball at all levels in the United States. She is also an ambassador coach for Athlete Ally, has been a mentor athlete for US Paralympics and The Hartford, and was recently named to the Board of Directors for the NWBA.

Ãndrea Woodson-Smith, PhD

She is a Full Professor at North Carolina Central University specializing in Adapted Physical Activity and Sports and Physical Education Pedagogy. She earned her PhD from Texas Woman’s University specializing in Adapted Physical Education, MS from North Carolina Central University specializing in Adapted Physical Education and a BS from James Madison University, Kinesiology where she also competed as a Division I women’s basketball athlete.

She received an invite to try out for the American Basketball League (ABL) and also tried out for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was a volunteer assistant women’s basketball coach for Texas Woman’s University and an Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach for Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, IL, an assistant varsity girls’ basketball coach and JV volleyball coach for East Chapel Hill High School and JV volleyball coach and assistant varsity volleyball coach for Waynesboro High School.

She participated on the 2003 and 2011 ParaPan American Games, 2006 and 2010 and 2012 U.S Paralympic team.  She has also participated as the Vice Chair of the Women’s Division, Chair of the Youth Development Committee of the Women’s Division, Committee member of the High Performance Committee and currently member of the ADM and High Performance Committees and serves as a Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State.

During my spare time I am advocate for Colon Cancer, Children’s Cancer and equality for all girls and women in sports and a 7th grade girls Life Group Leader for New Hope Church.

The NWBA would like to thank Stephanie and Andrea for making time to help other NWBA members build sustainable programs. Future topics in the Webinar Series and the timing of those sessions will be communicated soon. Additionally, the NWBA would like to thank Christina Schwab for her assistance in launching the NWBA Webinar Series. We appreciate Stephanie, Andrea and Christina giving back to the organization.