Emily Hoskins is an American wheelchair basketball player. As a member of the United States women's national wheelchair basketball team, she has won two gold medals at the

Summer Paralympic Games The Summer Paralympics also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral ...

Early life

Hoskins was born in 1983 in Streator, Illinois to parents Greg and Linda. Her father Greg was the advertising manager at The Times-Press and general manager at papers in

West Frankfort West Frankfort is a city in Franklin County, Illinois. The population was 8,182 at the 2010 census. The city is well known for its rich history of coal. The city is part of the Metro Lakeland area. History Although one might associate the name ...

and Marion, Illinois. Hoskins was born with neuroblastoma, which eroded into her spinal cord and permanently damaged the nerves in her legs. Growing up, Hoskins became involved in wheelchair basketball while in high school and joined the St. Louis Junior Rolling Rams. While competing with them, she also represented the St. Louis Wheelchair Athletic Association in track and field during her junior year. Although she qualified for the nationals in all of her events, Hoskins was unable to compete due to a spinal fusion.

Career

Upon graduating from

Mascoutah Community High School Mascoutah Community Unit School District #19 is a school district headquartered in Mascoutah, Illinois, United States. The district serves Mascoutah and some unincorporated areas in St. Clair County, including Scott Air Force Base. The distri ...

, Hoskins enrolled at Parkland College and became the youngest team member selected for the United States women's national wheelchair basketball team for the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

. Hoskins was originally named an alternate for the team but a week before the competition she was asked to replace a teammate. With her help, the U.S. women's wheelchair basketball team won their first gold medal since 1988. She was also named the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Women's Most Improved Player. Upon returning to North America, Hoskins transferred to the University of Illinois in 2004. Hoskins graduated from the University of Illinois in 2007 and began playing with the Phoenix Banner Mercury Wheelchair Team. As a result of her play, Hoskins was again selected to compete for Team USA at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

. She helped the team beat Germany 50–38 to repeat as the women's wheelchair basketball champions. Following her second gold medal, Hoskins continued to play with the Mercury Wheelchair Team and competed for the 2010 Friendship Games Osaka Cup.

Personal life

By 2013, Hoskins had moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, Tennessee, with her then-boyfriend Cody Campbell and began working with an advocacy group that helps find housing for disabled and elderly citizens. She eventually retired from playing and began coaching the Music City Thunder in the Junior Division.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoskins, Emily Living people Women's wheelchair basketball players Wheelchair basketball players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball University of Illinois alumni Year of birth missing (living people)