Erika Schmutz (born 1973) is a Canadian former

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

player and power engineer. She won a bronze medal with Team Canada in 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 ...

, becoming the first woman to score a try in a Paralympic wheelchair rugby match.

Early life

Schmutz was born and raised in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

, and attended Kennedy Collegiate and

St. Clair College St. Clair College of Applied Arts and Technology is a college in the Southwestern Ontario counties of Essex and Chatham-Kent, partnered with private Ace Acumen Academy in Toronto. Campus Its main administration and largest campus sites are in W ...

, where she competed in OFSAA track and cross-country.

Career

After injuring her arms and spine in a car accident in 2000, Schmutz joined the Canadian national wheelchair rugby team, becoming the third female athlete to ever be selected. Before her accident, Schmutz worked as a power engineer at

Ontario Hydro Ontario Hydro, established in 1906 as the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, was a publicly owned electricity utility in the Province of Ontario. It was formed to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity ge ...

. After qualifying for the

, Schmutz became the first woman to score during a Paralympic wheelchair rugby competition as Canada went on to win a bronze medal. She was also the only woman playing wheelchair rugby professionally at a national level worldwide. In 2010, Schmutz was named a top female athlete with a disability at the Ontario Sports Awards. She was later named an alternate for the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

, if another player became too injured to play. Two years later, Schmutz was elected to the Board of Directors for the ON Para Network as the Wheelchair Rugby Representative, and was eventually named to Wheelchair Rugby Canada's Board of Directors.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmutz, Erika 1973 births Living people Canadian wheelchair rugby players Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Canada Paralympic medalists in wheelchair rugby Paralympic wheelchair rugby players for Canada Sportspeople from Windsor, Ontario Wheelchair rugby players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics