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Joel Wilmoth

 

Wheelchair Rugby

Sport: Wheelchair Rugby
Height:  6’3”
Weight:  225 lbs
DOB:  July 31, 1989
Birthplace:  Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Current Residence:  Birmingham, Alabama
Classification:  3.5
U.S. Quad Rugby Association (USQRA) Team:  Lakeshore Demolition

Personal Profile:
At 18 years old, Wilmoth was the youngest member of the 2007 U.S. team. He is one of the best up-and-coming players in the country and last month was nominated to his first U.S. Paralympic Team. Wilmoth is one of the youngest athletes ever selected to the U.S. Wheelchair Rugby Team.

Joel Wilmoth started visiting the Lakeshore Foundation simply to work out. One day, a member of the Lakeshore staff approached him and told him he should check out wheelchair rugby. Wilmoth agreed to watch a practice, but still wasn’t sold. After all, he didn’t use a wheelchair to get around (he is missing his feet on both legs, and has only one finger on each hand), and the game didn’t look that physical. Wilmoth played football in junior high, and didn’t think that rugby could provide the same feeling.

When he expressed his hesitance toward the sport, the staff encouraged him to get in a chair and try it out first-hand. Wilmoth said that when he received his first
big hit and felt the resulting pain, he was sold on the game and has been playing ever since.

Wilmoth is the youngest athlete ever nominated to the U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Team. He promises to be a force for the U.S. with his size and physical play, and has been praised by head coach James Gumbert as a future star in the sport.

Wilmoth recently graduated from Hueytown High School in May of 2008, and will enroll in college in 2009 to pursue a business degree. He also works as a heavy equipment operator for a construction company. When he’s not in school, at work or playing rugby, Wilmoth says he likes to spend as much free time with his friends as possible.

Major Achievements:

  • 2007: Nominated to 2008 U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Team

 

2008 U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Team
Lakeshore Foundation has been the home of the U.S. wheelchair rugby team since 2002 and has found a real niche here in Alabama. As documented in the Academy Award nominated film, Murderball, the U.S. was heavily favored heading into the 2004 Paralympic Games, but was upset by Canada in the semifinals and the U.S. then went on to win the bronze medal. The team regained its international status in 2006, going 17-0 en route to the gold medal at the World Wheelchair Rugby Championships that year. The team spent 2007 developing a number of up-and-coming players and the coaching staff was faced with the difficult task of narrowing this talented group down to the 11 athletes that will represent the U.S. in Beijing. While a handful of individual sport athletes have already stamped their tickets to China, wheelchair rugby is the first team that has been nominated. The U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Team selection camp was held at Lakeshore Foundation, December 13-16, 2007. Two local athletes, Bryan Kirkland and Joel Wilmoth, were chosen to represent the U.S. in Beijing.

Courtesy U.S. Paralympics