COLORADO SPRINGS, CO. – The National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) and the High Performance Committee are excited to announce the staff that will support the 2024 U.S.A Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team defend their podium finish performance at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. 

Christina Schwab will serve in the role of head coach for the 2024 U.S. Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team, a role she has served in since 2022. 

Joining Schwab on the sidelines are assistant coaches Desi Miller (Monroe, Washington) and Ryan Hynes (Germantown, Wisconsin). The other two team staff members are Alex Curry of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as medical staff and Kearstin Bisnett of Watertown, Minnesota as team leader. 
 
Under the leadership of Schwab, Team USA has claimed bronze at the 2022 International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) World Championship and at the Paralympic-qualifying 2023 Santiago Parapan American Games.  

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. In June of 2021, she earned U.S. National level coaching experience as an assistant on Ron Lykin’s U.S. Men’s National Team Staff that went on to earn gold at the 2020 Toyko Paralympic Games.  

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 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. 

Since becoming an assistant at the U.S. national team level, Miller has helped Team USA capture gold at the 2022 IWBF World Championship and the 2023 Santiago Parapan American Games. Her success in coaching is a byproduct of her career as a U.S.A wheelchair basketball athlete. Miller is a retired two-time Paralympian and Paralympic gold medalist for U.S.A Women’s Wheelchair Basketball. She competed in the 2012 London Paralympic games and the 2016 Rio Paralympic games. Her playing career with Team U.S.A spanned from 2007-2017 includes several medals and being named team captain for many of those teams. She is a former assistant coach for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s team in the NWBA Intercollegiate Division, where she also participated as a coach for many summer wheelchair basketball camps. Miller’s passion lies in the growth and development of young women in this sport, along with creating a positive space where women can feel confident in themselves.  

Since becoming an assistant at the U.S. national team level, Hynes has helped Team USA capture gold at the 2022 IWBF World Championship and the 2023 Santiago Parapan American Games. He also served as head coach for the U.S. Women’s U25 Team that won gold at the 2023 IWBF Women’s U25 World Championship. Hynes has served as Alabama’s head coach for the last seven seasons, leading the Tide to a fourth consecutive NWBA Intercollegiate National Championship in 2024. No stranger to the sport, Hynes has played wheelchair basketball since 2005. Hynes was a two-time Intercollegiate Division All-American during his playing career at University of Alabama and was a part of the University of Alabama’s first national championship for their men’s team in 2013. Hynes has been a part of seven NWBA National Championships as a player and coach at the University of Alabama. 

Curry is making her second appearance at the U.S. National level serving as the athletic trainer for the U.S. Women’s U25 Team that won gold at the 2023 IWBF Women’s U25 World Championship. She is currently the Director of Sports Medicine for Adaptive Athletics at the University of Alabama, overseeing the Tide’s men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball programs and the wheelchair tennis team. Curry brings extensive experience across all levels of athletics, having served as an athletic trainer for Hecker Sports and Regenerative Medicine, Regis University and a stint with USA Football.  

Bisnett brings experience to her role as team leader, having served in this capacity for the U.S. Women’s National Team that won bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games and gold at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.  In addition, she supported Team USA at the 2017 Americas Cup and 2018 IWBF World Championship. She is currently a Department Administrator at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. 
 
Assisting in preparations as part of the service provider staff are:    

- Strength and Conditioning Coach Katie McClosky of Houston, Texas    
- Nutritionist Sally Baumann of Greater Brisbane, Australia    
- Sport Psychologist Adam O’Neil of Boulder, Colorado