Joe Soares is a former all-star

wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is practised in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic sport. The US name ...

player for the

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, a Paralympic gold medallist, who later coached the Canadian

paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

team after he was cut by the U.S. in 1996. This episode figures prominently in the 2005 documentary film '' Murderball''.

Biography

Soares was born into a poor family in Portugal, and moved to

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, at the age of 11. Soares lost the use of his legs after contracting childhood

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

at the age of nine. He used crutches until he was in high school, when he switched to a wheelchair because he says it gave him greater mobility and he said the girls liked it.Quote from Murderball Soares began playing rugby in 1969 and, as of 2005, was the only player to have participated in 13 consecutive United States National Championships. He was a member of the U.S. wheelchair rugby team that won the gold medal at the

1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympic Games, Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games ...

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. He was also a finalist in singles and a champion in doubles at the 1996 U.S. Open for

wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designed wheelchairs, a ...

in the Quad "A" Division. Soares was cut from the U.S. team in 1996 and lost a lawsuit in an attempt to make a point soon after. Soares then applied to coach the United States team, but was rejected. Due to wishing to continue with rugby Soares went on to coach the Canadian wheelchair rugby team, leading them to victory against the until then-undefeated United States team in

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. Soares was fired by the Canadian wheelchair rugby team in 2005, and moved on to coach the British team. Soares was released by the Great Britain Team in June 2008. In 2010 Soares began coaching the German national team. During his work for them, he failed to improve the German's

IWRF World Wheelchair Rugby (WWR) is the international governing body for the sport of wheelchair rugby. WWR is a volunteer-run organisation that supervises the international competitions and development of wheelchair rugby. It was created in 1993 ...

World Ranking; instead, they dropped at the 2010

World Wheelchair Rugby Championships World Wheelchair Rugby Championships is an international wheelchair rugby competition contested by the :National wheelchair rugby teams, national teams of the members of World Wheelchair Rugby (World Wheelchair Rugby, WWR), the sport's global gover ...

from 7th to 10th place. Soares coached Germany at the 2011 Europeans Wheelchair Rugby Championships, leading them to their worst historic placing and failing to qualify for the London 2012 Paralympics. Soares and his wife Patricia have two sons, Joseph and Robert. Through the time that he coached Team Canada, he resided in the United States.

References

* Shapiro, Dana.
"Murderball"
',

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. November 2002.

External links

*
Murderball player profiles
(murderballmovie.com) {{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Joe Living people Paralympic wheelchair rugby players for the United States Wheelchair rugby players at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Providence, Rhode Island Wheelchair rugby coaches American wheelchair rugby players Paralympic coaches for Canada Coaches at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic wheelchair rugby coaches Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Year of birth missing (living people) Paralympic medalists in wheelchair rugby American people of Portuguese descent