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Christina Ripp-Schwab named as Head Coach for 2022 Women’s U.S. National Team

By NWBA High Performance Committee, 12/13/21, 5:15PM CST

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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO - The NWBA High Performance Committee is excited to announce that Christina Ripp-Schwab will serve in the role of head coach for the 2022 U.S. Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team. Schwab replaces Trooper Johnson who resigned from the position.

Christina “Barney” Ripp-Schwab brings a combination of coaching and playing experience to this role with a very impressive three Paralympic gold medals as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, among various other individual and team honors. Her coaching experience spans from coaching in the NWBA Junior Division with the Denver Jr. Rolling Nuggets to the U.S. Men's National Team. Since July 2016, Schwab has been the head coach of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Women’s Basketball Team. In June of 2021, she added to that experience as a member of Ron Lykin’s U.S. Men’s National Team Staff. The U.S. Men earned a gold medal in September of this year at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 

Of her appointment, Schwab said: “I am grateful, excited, and looking forward to the opportunity to once again be working with Team USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball. After achieving success through this program as an athlete, it is important for me to use this new role as a way to give back to the sport by serving and mentoring current and future high-performance athletes. I am determined to work my hardest alongside the NWBA High Performance Committee and my staff to continue to develop this highly successful program.”

Schwab, who was born with spina bifida, became involved in the sport of wheelchair basketball at the age of 11 after finding out about the game at a summer camp. She has played at all levels in the sport, including her aforementioned gold medal performances at the Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 & Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. In 2019, Schwab was recognized by the NWBA for her many successes with induction into the NWBA Hall of Fame as an athlete member.

Schwab graduated in 2005 from the University of Illinois-Champaign with a B.S. in Community Health. She graduated with an M.S.E. in Higher Education Leadership with an Athletic Administration emphasis from UW-Whitewater in Spring 2021. Christina resides in Edgerton, WI with her husband, CJ and their sons, Lincoln & Miles.

The NWBA High Performance Committee, upon Coach Johnson’s resignation, reviewed the existing applicant pool as they initiated the process of selecting the new head coach.