Getting Everyone Moving

Kentaro has been blind since birth but doesn't let anything stop him.  He has a full career, working at JICA in Tokyo, plays blind soccer and surfs, started an NGO in Sudan to develop blind soccer.

Born and raised in the South Indian city of Hyderabad, Padmini Chennapragada holds a Master of Science (Adapted Physical Activity, USA) and is a trained Physiotherapist (Hyderabad, INDIA). She has created and leads the AdaptedSportsIndia movement. Started as a social media campaign, today, the initiative is a community driven effort that is encouraging and educating Indians with disabilities to take up sports to improve the quality of their lives.

She currently serves as a Program Director for the Indian Wheelchair Tennis Tour (IWTT). In this role, she helps develop training camps for Indians with physical disabilities to participate in regular wheelchair tennis programming.

Her work is focused on Sport Governance and Physical Education in India’s Special Schools. Through a rights-based approach, Padmini writes about the governance issues within India’s disability sport world.

Katrina works for Top End and is the founder of Adaptive Sports Connections and Resources on Facebook.  

K. David McCann is the Executive Director of USA Boccia. Prior to taking this position in April 2020, he was the Director of the Office of Recreation and Park Resources, which provided consulting services, and coaching and parent resources to sport organizations in Illinois and throughout the country. He is one of the nation’s leading experts on Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) and sports programming, having been instrumental in the creation of the American Development Model which is used by the US Olympic Committee and numerous National Governing Bodies. Previously he has served as Director of Sport Development and Coaching for USA Rugby, Manager of Coaching Education for the US Olympic Committee, and Director of Educational Services for the US Ski and Snowboard Association.

While at the US Ski and Snowboard Association he created dozens of award-winning educational CD/DVDs and courses for coaches, parents, and athletes, which generated over a million dollars in revenue for the organization. He has created several websites and educational platforms for the delivery of courses, resources to national and local sport organizations. In 2007 he was elected President of the National Council for Accreditation of Coaching Education (NCACE). He has organized and hosted several National Coaching Conferences, which bring together coaches, coach educators, and program administrators to discuss and develop solutions to improve our sports development, education, and performance systems. Throughout his career, he has trained over 3,000 sport coaches and instructors in clinics and workshops.

He is a former professional project manager and is proficient in the use of project management, database, and budgeting software. He has performed and project managed research consulting reports for the International Rugby Board, and USA Rugby. He has worked with numerous national sport organizations such as the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on the development of TrueSport, the US Olympic Committee on the development of the strategy for the USOC Safe Sports Environment (SafeSport), and National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) on the creation of the National Standards for Sport Coaches. In his role at the USOC, he advised and oversaw the creation of coaching education and development programs for several national governing bodies. He is a presently a member of the North American Society for Sport Management, and the US Center for Coaching Excellence.

Steve bring 30 years of sports experience to the USPSA as an elite wheelchair athlete, coach and organizer. He competed worldwide in wheelchair tennis for over 20 years and ended the 1988 season as US Open Champion and the #1 ranked player in the world. Steve coached and helped develop quad rugby programs in Southern California as well as multiple able-body youth sports programs. Steve started playing power soccer in 2011 and is excited about applying his past experiences to help develop the sport. Steve is currently the director of marketing and client development for Evo Sports Training and resides in Lakewood California with his wife and two children.

Samanta is a wheelchair tennis Paralympian, a model and an entrepreneur through her inclusive fashion line.  

Doug is a wheelchair basketball coach with the Rollin Timberwolves.  He started in the field of wheelchair basketball through his son Joe, who played for Missouri.

Jones, is the Divisional President of the NWBA’s Intercollegiate Division since 2012, enters the Hall of Fame as an individual who served in a variety of roles during his career. His career spanned 20 years, starting in 1982 with the North Florida Renegades. In 1995, Jones won the first of five National Titles as a player. From 2001-2008 he changed gears to coach the Gator

Wheels and the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks. As a coach, he won four National Titles for the Mavericks (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007).

From an administrative perspective, Jones has been involved in a variety of roles that started as serving as the President of the Florida Conference from 1992-1994. He was a member of the NWBA Tournament Selection Committee for 1996-1997. He was also a member of the D-I Executive Committee from 2003-2008.

Madhavi Latha is a para-athletics sportsperson who champions the cause of sports for persons with disabilities. She was the National Para-Swimming Champion (three-time gold medallist), and also the founder of the Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India (WBFI) – India's national wheelchair basketball body. Previously, she has founded the Paralympic Swimming Association of Tamil Nadu in 2011, and Yes We Can Too, an NGO that focuses on inclusivity in sports and the promotion of sports for persons with disabilities.

Mark Bookman is a Ph.D. Candidate in East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. His research looks at the history and politics of disability in Japanese and global contexts.

Mark also works as an accessibility consultant. He has collaborated with government agencies and corporate entities in Japan and the United States, as well as the Olympic and Paralympic Committees and the UN, on inclusive education, equitable transportation, environmental design, and disaster risk management projects.