Redefining Disability

Ricardo Castaneda became blind at the age of 15 and has participated in judo, wrestling, goalball, track & field, and beep baseball. He earned MVP honors at the Northwest Regional track competition in 2017 and was defensive MVP in beep baseball at a tournament in Chicago in 2021. He also served as captain of the Texas School for the Blind wrestling team where he qualified for regionals in 2018 and took first place in his division for three straight years in the conference tournament. Recently, Ricardo was named to the first ever USA Blind Soccer Men’s National Team.

Dana Mathewson was 10 years old when she contracted a rare autoimmune disease which impacted her spinal cord. Dana's mom wanted her to give adaptive sports a try and she ended up falling in love with the sport of wheelchair tennis. Dana would go on to attend the University of Arizona on scholarship to compete on their wheelchair tennis team. The 2X Paralympian is now the number 1 ranked female wheelchair tennis player in the U.S. and currently ranked in the top ten in the world.

Matthew Stutzman was born without arms and uses his legs and feet for most of his activities, including archery. Matt is a 3x Paralympian, winning a silver medal in 2012. He holds a world record for the longest accurate shot in the sport and won the gold medal in his event at the 2022 World Para Archery Championships held in Dubai.

Nicky Nieves started playing sports in the 6th grade, including volleyball, track and field, and cheerleading. In volleyball, she earned Conference Player of the Year honors her senior year of high school and went on to play at the college level. Born without a left hand, she was invited by USA Volleyball to a national sitting volleyball development camp in 2011. Now that she has one Paralympic gold medal, she is hungry for another and aiming for Paris 2024. On top of that is currently in grad school and she founded Limitless People, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the sport of volleyball for all.

Brandon Rush became paralyzed at the age of 14 as the result of a biking accident. He was introduced to the sport of wheelchair basketball during his rehab and hasn’t looked back since. Not only did Brandon play throughout high school but also played the sport at the collegiate level and beyond. Today, he is still active with the same Charlottesville Cardinals team but also coaches a team at Sportable, a Move United member organization based in Richmond, VA.

Tracy Otto became paralyzed from the chest down when an ex-boyfriend attacked her in 2019. She was in a really bad place for a long time and wanted to find something to lift her up. Randomly, she decided she wanted to shoot archery and found a program near her through Move United member organization, Hillsborough County Adaptive Sports. She not only has a goal of competing at the Paralympics but has also owned up her own business.

Shawn Cheshire served in the US Army for eight years as a helicopter systems mechanic and was honorably discharged in 2002. Shawn lost her vision in 2012 as a result of traumatic brain injury she suffered while working on an ambulance after becoming a paramedic. After competing in the 2016 Paralympic Games, she has gone on to complete some amazing adventures but is now focused on summiting Mount Everest.

Mackenzie Soldan has had an amazing sports career, representing Team USA at two Paralympic Games in two different sports: wheelchair tennis and wheelchair basketball. At one point, she was the #1 wheelchair tennis player in the U.S. in the women’s division and also won a gold medal with the US Women’s Wheelchair National Basketball Team. After earning a masters degree at the University of Alabama, she now serves as the marketing manager for Angel City Sports in Los Angeles.

Marine Corps veteran Jataya Taylor was injured during training, ultimately ending her military career and eventually leading to the amputation of her left leg. She has explored a variety of adaptive sports, but the one that has caught her attention is wheelchair fencing and she is now pursuing a different dream... to represent the U.S. at the Paralympic Games.

Lia Coryell is a two-time Paralympian for Team USA and 2022 World Archery Para Champion. She became a first-time Paralympian at the age of 51 and is a veteran of the U.S. Army. Now officially retired from the sport, we sit down and chat about her journey and her career.