Courtney Anne Ryan (born September 21, 1990) is a 2.0 point American

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

player and member of the United States women's national wheelchair basketball team. In 2017, she played for the Sydney Metro Blues in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League in Australia.

Early life

Courtney Anne Ryan was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, on September 21, 1990, the daughter of Kevin and Patti Ryan. She has a brother, Chris, and a sister, Caitlin. She attended Coronado High School, where she played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. She was Coronado's Rookie of the Year in 2007 as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

, and as an

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

the following year was a first team All-Western League performer, was named to the all-section team, and was Most Valuable Player. In 2008, she entered

Metropolitan State University of Denver Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver or Metro State) is a public university in Denver, Colorado, United States. It is located on the Auraria Campus, along with the University of Colorado Denver and the Community College of Denver ...

, where she played soccer for its team, the Roadrunners. As a freshman, she played 25 games, in which she scored one goal and was credited with seven assists. In 2009, she played 24 games as a defender. She was named first team All-America and first team All-Central Region, and set a school record for defenders with 15 assists on the season. Ryan played only five games in 2010. During the fifth, against

Colorado Mesa University Colorado Mesa University (CMU or Mesa) is a public university in Grand Junction, Colorado, United States. Originally established in 1925 as Grand Junction Junior College, the school was renamed to Mesa College in 1940. The college began offerin ...

on October 8, 2010, she was tackled from behind and fell on her back. A blood clot developed that burst and leaked into her spinal cord, leaving her paralysed from the waist down. She stayed at Metro for the 2011 spring semester, then returned to San Diego. She became involved with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and took up

Career

Pete Hughes, the head coach of the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

Wildcats women's wheelchair basketball team saw Ryan play a game in which she sank a game-winning buzzer-beater. After the game, he offered her a scholarship. She entered the University of Arizona in the fall of 2012. She enrolled in its College of Education, majoring in special education, with an emphasis in rehabilitation, planning to earn a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in rehabilitation counseling or disability studies. Hughes was sufficiently impressed with Ryan's attitude, ability and performance that he wrote a letter of recommendation to Stephanie Wheeler, the head coach of the USA national women's wheelchair basketball team. Two weeks later, Ryan was one of 30 players invited to try out for the national teams at tryouts held in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

. In April, she was selected for the team, making her international debut in eight games against the German national team. She played with the national team at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The United States came fourth. In 2017, Ryan played for the Sydney Metro Blues in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League in Australia. The Blues went on to win the league championship. In August 2019, Ryan became the assistant coach of the University of Arizona women's wheelchair basketball team. She represented the United States at the 2022 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships and won a bronze medal. In November 2023 she competed at the

2023 Parapan American Games The 2023 Parapan American Games, officially the VII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Santiago 2023 Parapan-Am Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities. It celebrated the tradition of the Parapan Am ...

in the wheelchair basketball tournament and won a gold medal. As a result, the team earned an automatic bid to the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

. On March 30, 2024, she was named to Team USA's roster to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

Personal life

Ryan is married to her former University of Arizona teammate Molly Bloom.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Courtney 1990 births Living people American women's wheelchair basketball players People with paraplegia LGBTQ basketball players American lesbian sportswomen Basketball players from San Diego American expatriate basketball people in Australia Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for the United States Wheelchair basketball players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Wheelchair basketball players at the 2023 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Parapan American Games 21st-century American LGBTQ people American women's soccer players Soccer players from California Women's association football defenders Metro State Roadrunners women's soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen Parapan American Games medalists in wheelchair basketball Parapan American Games gold medalists for the United States