Team USA at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

Corada is excited to support and encourage Team USA at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio! The Games' Opening Ceremony is Wednesday September 7th at 6:15 PM. The opening ceremonies (and other sporting events) will have a live stream here, and broadcast by NBC. 

From Team USA's website, here's a brief history of the Paralympic Movement:

"Following World War II, traditional methods of rehabilitation could not meet the medical and psychological needs of large numbers of soldiers and civilians with a disability. In 1944, at the request of the British government, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann founded the National Spinal Injuries Center at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. A strong advocate of sports therapy, Guttmann encouraged his patients to play sports under the belief that sports would enhance the quality of life for people who were injured or wounded.

On July 29, 1948, the day of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in London, 16 injured British servicemen and women participated in an archery competition at the first Stoke Mandeville Games. Four years later, the first International Stoke Mandeville Games were held when Dutch ex-servicemen joined the movement. From then on, the International Stoke Mandeville Games were to be held annually.

In 1960, the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games saw 400 athletes from 23 countries compete in the same city as the Olympic Games for the first time in Rome, Italy. While the subsequent International Stoke Mandeville Games would be held during the Summer Olympics, it was not until 1988 that both were held in same city in the same venues. It was at these Games that “Paralympics” became the official term of use. The word “Paralympic” now represents “parallel” and “Olympic” to illustrate how the two movements exist side by side.

In 2001, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) formalized an agreement stating that the Paralympic Games would be held after the Olympics in the same city using the same venue." 

Lakeshore Foundation - Local Paralympic Training Facilities

Corada is based in Birmingham, Alabama, and we have a long tradition in our city of supporting Paralympians through the Lakeshore Foundation. Check out this article about the latest opportunities Team USA had while training at the Lakeshore Foundation! For local friends, Lakeshore Foundation is hosting a Paralympic Family Festival on Saturday, September 10th. Find more info here! 

Corada's Home State Paralympians

We are proud to share about Alabama's own Paralympians:

• Brian Bell - Wheelchair Basketball
  • From Team USA's website: "Bell lost his leg at the age of 10 due to a train accident. After he recuperated and finished rehabilitation, he wanted to get back to playing his favorite sports: basketball and football. One year he played middle school football on his prosthetic. It became too strenuous to continue, so one of his mom’s friends showed him and his mother the Paralympic and Olympic training facility across town. The foundation was called Lakeshore. There Bell was introduced to wheelchair basketball and other adaptive sports, but he grew to love basketball. Bell currently plays professional basketball in Italy....Son of Louvenia Bell…Has one sibling, Andreus Gulley…Married Diane Bell…Has two daughters, Kaylan and Lia…Enjoys drawing, playing video games, reading, cooking, and hanging out with friends and family…He was featured as one of the "Faces in the Crowd" in an issue of Sports Illustrated."
• Emily Frederick - Track and Field
  • From the Gadsden Times: "Frederick, a 2016 graduate of Hokes Bluff High School, has another destination ahead. She signed an academic/athletic scholarship to Penn State University this spring, where she will compete in track and field. For the past three years, Frederick has been training at Lakeshore in Birmingham and competing in paralympic sports. Frederick is a dwarf; in para-athletic competitions, she competes against other dwarfs, just as wheelchair athletes compete against others in chairs, or amputees compete against other amputees. Frederick is a seven-time state para-ambulatory track and field champion in the 100 meters, shot put, discus and javelin. Additionally, she won two National Paralympic Track and Field championships last summer."
• Josh Roberts - Track and Field
  • From the Lakeshore Foundation website: "Roberts is making his second run in Paralympic track after competing in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. He took up the sport in 2006 and was selected to the 2007 U.S. Parapan American Team and competed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is a native Alabamian and graduated from Mortimer-Jordan High School. Roberts also plays wheelchair rugby for the Lakeshore Demolition."
• Jennifer Schuble - Cycling
  • From Team USA's website: "Schuble has been a talented athlete throughout her life. She was a two-time state champion in soccer and a varsity track runner in high school. While attending the United States Military Academy at West Point to become a commissions officer, Schuble was a varsity athlete in three separate sports. One day during hand-to-hand combat class at West Point, Schuble sustained a traumatic brain injury. She sustained an additional TBI later in a car wreck, and in 2004, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis....Daughter of Jerry and Beth Schuble…Has one brother, Tom, and two sisters, Stephanie and Melissa…Has two English bulldogs, Panzer and Sherman…Grandfather and his brother both played professional baseball…Works as an engineer…Hobbies aside from work and cycling include triathlons and playing with her bulldogs."
• Mackenzie Soldan - Wheelchair Tennis
  • From Team USA's website: "Daughter of Dave and Jannine Soldan... Has one sister, Kirsten.. Hobbies include listening to music, playing guitar and piano, watching movies, spending time with friends and creating personal art pieces... Also plays wheelchair basketball... Part of 2011 Collegiate National Wheelchair Basketball Championship with University of Alabama... Won gold medal with 2011 U.S. Wheelchair Basketball U-25 Team... 2007 U.S. U-19 Wheelchair Basketball Team."

​Donate to Team USA to Support the Paralympic Games

From Team USA's website: 

"Your donation has a direct impact on Team USA. Every single dollar helps to advance our athletes, bringing them closer to achieving their dream of representing red, white, and blue on the world’s stage. From Rio to PyeongChang to Tokyo — America’s team can’t get there without you.

Donate to give Team USA everything they need to make our country — and you — proud."