82% of Team USA Athletes That Competed in the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games Had Participated in Move United Programs

Including More Than a Dozen Who Had Been Engaged with Move United Members Across the Country

Founded in 1956, Move United provides opportunities for individuals with disabilities to develop independence, confidence, and fitness through participation in sports. These sports opportunities transform the people that are served, highlighting the power of sport.

Through a nationwide network of 190 community-based organizations in 43 states and the District of Columbia, Move United serves over 100,000 youth, wounded warriors and adults each year. About 30,000 youth with disabilities are served as well, ensuring that no one sits on the sidelines because of a disability.

Athletes that compete at the highest level have an opportunity to become part of Team USA and compete at the Paralympic Games. Of the 74 athletes that represented the United States at the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, 61 of them had participated in Move United programs or been involved with a Move United member organization across the country.

WARFIGHTERS PROGRAM

Move United’s Warfighters program serves approximately 1,900 severely injured warriors and their families annually. Since 2003, approximately 16,000 severely injured veterans and their families have been provided access to more than 50 adaptive sports at no cost to them. Thirteen athletes that competed in PyeongChang have participated in Warfighters activities, including alpine and Nordic skiers Kevin Burton, Josh Elliott, Andrew Soule, and Bryan Price, as well as snowboarders Jimmy Sides and Michael Spivey.

Several players on the gold-medal winning U.S. Sled Hockey Team are also former military members and have participated in Warfighter Sports activities, including Rico Roman, Ralph DeQuebec, Jen Lee, Travis Dodson, Luke McDermott, Josh Misiewicz, as well as Wheelchair Curler Kirk Black.

Para Alpine Skier Josh Elliott had the opportunity to represent his country with pride as an athlete, just as he did as a United States Marine. The retired Marine Sergeant got into monoskiing in December 2011 through Move United’s Warfighters program. Just eight months earlier, Elliott was in a medically-induced coma and had lost both of his legs by stepping on an IED (improvised explosive device) during a combat tour in Afghanistan. “Monoskiing quickly became one of my biggest therapies,” he said. “Competitive alpine ski racing made me realize my full potential and gave me the drive to continue to live.”

Move United’s Elite Team

The Move United EliteTeam is designed to support and empower emerging youth athletes with disabilities, between 13-24 years of age, who are training competitively in sports featured in the Paralympic Games.

Ten members of Team USA that traveled to South Korea have been part of Move United’s Elite Team, including alpine skiers Andrew Kurka, Tyler Carter, Jamie Stanton, Andrew Haraghey, Connor Hogan, and Allison Kunkel; snowboarders Brenna Huckaby and Noah Elliott; and Nordic athletes Grace Miller and Ruslan Reiter.

MOVE UNITED EDUCATION AND COMPETITION EVENTS

Twenty-four of the competing athletes had been a part of events hosted and organized by Move United. Those athletes include alpine skiers Mark Bathum, Spencer Wood, Stephanie Jallen, Tyler Walker, Laurie Stephens, Danielle Umstead, Rob Umstead, Stephen Lawler, Staci Mannella, Jasmin Bambur, Melanie Schwartz and Thomas Walsh; snowboarders Nicole Roundy, Mike Shea, Jr., Keith Gabel, Arlene Cohen, Mike Minor, Mike Schultz, Amy Purdy, Brittani Coury, and Evan Strong; Nordic skiers Oksana Masters and Sean Halstead; and sled hockey player Jack Wallace. Shea, a snowboarder, previously served on the board of directors of Move United and Roundy, also a snowboarder, currently serves as a member of the organization’s board.

Another snowboarder, Brittani Coury, who made her first trip to the Paralympics, talked about her expectations prior to heading over to PyeongChang. “I made the US team relatively quickly. So, my goal is to just keep progressing the way I have been. To keep improving on my riding and hopefully I’m on a podium in March. And hopefully I’m impacting other people in a positive way,” she said.  Coury did make the podium, earning a silver medal in banked slalom at the event.

MOVE UNITED’S MEMBER NETWORK

And finally, fourteen members of Team USA at PyeongChang had participated with one or Move United member organizations, including Nordic skiers Dan Cnossen and Joy Rondeau (National Sports Center For The Disabled in Colorado) and Kendall Gretsch (Dare2Tri in Illinois).

Several members of the Sled Hockey team have played with teams associated with the Move United member network, including Steve Cash, Josh Pauls, and Billy Hannings from Disabled Athlete Sports Association (Missouri), Brody Roybal and Kevin McKee from Shirley Ryan Ability Lab (Illinois), Noah Grove (Kennedy Krieger Institute in Maryland and Northeast Passage in New Hampshire), and Declan Farmer (Steamboat Adaptive Recreational Sports in Colorado).

In addition, the entire U.S. Wheelchair Curling Team, which includes Black as well as Meghan Lino, Penny Greely, Justin Marshall, and Steve Emt, trained and participated in activities at STRIDE (Rensselaer, NY) leading up to the 2018 Winter Games

Move United is an affiliate of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. We look forward to seeing which athletes make the Team USA roster for the upcoming Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan as well.