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Initial Selections made for the 2022 Toyota Team USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team

By NWBA, 04/15/22, 9:30PM CDT

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10 Paralympians included among the pool of athletes

COLORADO SRINGS, CO – The National Wheelchair Basketball Association and USA Women's Head Coach, Christina Schwab, are excited to announce the initial selection of 16 athletes to the pool for consideration for the 2022 Toyota Team USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team. This selection was made at the conclusion of the 2022 Toyota Team USA Women’s Selection Camp, a five-day camp at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. The 16 selected athletes will continue to train and compete for a final roster spot on the 2022 Toyota Team U.S.A Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team.

Women's USA Head Coach, Christina Schwab, shared her thoughts, “It was a great week of training at selection camp and I am very proud of the effort put forth by all of these women. My staff and I are very pleased with the pool of athletes initially selected to the team. However, I am very excited about the future of women’s wheelchair basketball in the U.S.”

The pool of initially selected of athletes includes a great mix of some youth and solid veteran presence. The pool includes ten of the 12 athletes that represented Team USA at the most recent 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

The pool of athletes is headlined by Natalie Schneider (Syracuse, NE) who has been a member of Team USA since winning her first Paralympic gold at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. Schneider recently served as the co-captain for the team from 2019 to 2021.

Rose Hollermann (Elysian, MN) joins Schneider as a veteran among the initial pool of athletes selected. Hollermann and Schneider played on the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Paralympic teams, winning gold at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and bronze medal at the most recent 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Courtney Ryan (Chula Vista, CA) also returns to the pool as a member of the bronze medal winning U.S. Women’s team from the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. She was a member of the silver medal team from the 2019 Lima Parapan American Games, which secured the qualifying spot for Tokyo Paralympics. 

Josie Aslakson (Jordan, MN), Kaitlyn Eaton (Houston, TX), Bailey Moody (Alpharetta, GA), and Lindsey Zurbrugg (Portland, OR) began their Team USA experience as members of the 2017 International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) America's Cup team that won a silver medal in Cali, Colombia. They each went on to win a silver medal at the 2019 Lima Parapan American Games. Lastly, this group of athletes were all contributing members of the roster at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics that captured a bronze medal.

Additional initial selections include Ixhelt Gonzalez (Chicago, Illinois) and Zoe Voris (Crown Point, Indiana). Voris was a member of the 2017 IWBF America's Cup silver medal team and Gonzalez was a member of the 2018 IWBF World Championship team. Both Voris and Gonzalez's most recent accomplishment was on the bronze medal winning team from the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Abigail Bauleke (Savage, MI) returns to the pool after securing a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Bauleke also brings in gold medal experience from the 2019 IWBF U25 World Championships. 

Josie DeHart (Fruita, Colorado) makes the initial selection and is currently playing professionally in Germany on the ING Skywheelers. DeHart made the initial selections for the U.S. Women’s roster in 2017 and was an alternate for the U.S. Women’s roster for the 2018 IWBF World Championships.

Emily Oberst (Brookfield, Wisconsin) attempts to make her third U.S. Women’s team as she was a member of the squad for the 2017 IWBF America’s Cup and 2018 IWBF World Championships. Oberst had a playing career at the University of Alabama and University of Illinois-Champaign.

Making their first initial selection are Mandy Willmore (Rock Springs, WI), Ranley Clayton (Alexander City, AL), Abby Farrell (Colorado Springs, CO), and Quinn Meyer (Austin, TX). Both Farrell and Clayton just finished the NWBA Intercollegiate Division season at University of Illinois-Champaign. Clayton had previously played wheelchair basketball at University of Auburn. Willmore recently finished her first season playing at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Meyer is a member of the ATX in the Junior Division – Varsity and Lady Mavericks in the Women’s Division.

The team will continue to train and make additional selections to craft the final team rosters for this year’s competitions. The 2022 Toyota Team USA Women's Wheelchair Basketball Team 
will attend the 2022 America's Cup in Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 9-19, 2022. The 2022 America's Cup, hosted by IWBF Americas, will serve as the qualifier for the 2022 IWBF World Championships taking place November 16-27, 2022 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. For the women's division of 2022 America's Cup there will be eight teams competing for one of the three team spots available for the IWBF World Championships.

Also joining Head Coach Christina Schwab on the sidelines will be:

- Assistant Coach Desiree Miller of Monroe, Washington

- Assistant Coach Ryan Hynes of Germantown, Wisconsin

- Assistant Coach Eve Hampton of Seattle, Washington

- Team Leader Nikki Campbell of Clancy, Montana

- Athletic Trainer Jennifer Kingsby of San Jose, California

Assisting in preparations as part of the extended staff are:

- Strength and Conditioning Coach Katie McClosky of Houston, Texas

- Nutritionist Sally Baumann of Greater Brisbane, Australia

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