Debbie & Ralph Armento
Contributor | 2017
Hometown: Kendall Park, New Jersey
Deb and Ralph Armento have been an integral part of the
Adaptive Sports USA Family since 1989. Deb has coached
various teams to include the Rolling Raiders and Katie’s
Komets and was an active Board member for Tris-State
Wheelchair and Ambulatory Sports and the New Jersey
Wheelchair Athletic Association. She hung her hat
as the co-director of the Masons, Tris-State and
Burke Rehab Regional events as well as a certified Track
and Field USA Official. Deb was on the Board of Adaptive
Sports USA from 2011 to 2017, where she led the Junior
Committee to support and guide the Junior Nationals
and Team USA’s presence at the International
Wheelchair and Amputee World Junior Games. Deb was also
the Powerlifting Sport Technical Representative.
Ralph served in various essential roles with the national
organization and local Tris-State region. He was the
Chairman of the Tris-State Wheelchair & Ambulatory.
Athletics serving the communities of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut; an Event Director;
member of various local organizing committees and served as the Adaptive Sports USA Director of
Office Operations for years.
Debbie and Ralph are as responsible for the survival of Wheelchair Sports USA as any two people
in the history of the organization. During the very lean years during the early 2000’s recession,
after the national office shuttered due to a lack of funds, Debbie and Ralph brought the organization
into their living room, running the day to day business from their home. Ralph served as Office
Manager and All Things Administration for Wheelchair Sports USA and its later incarnations, not
once but twice after no one could be found to run the office on a shoe-string budget.
Sadly, Ralph passed away in February, 2020 and did not witness the merger that created Move
United. Move United would not exist today in its current form were it not for the love and dedication
of Ralph and Debbie Armento in saving Wheelchair Sports USA from folding.
