The 2023 Parapan American Games take place in Santiago, Chile November 17-26. While Team USA will face stiff competition from the top teams in the Americas, a gold medal in Santiago will secure the team a spot at next year’s Paralympic Games in Paris, France.
Continue to visit this page for scores and match highlights, and watch livestreamed games at https://www.panamsportschannel.org/.
Day 3 Recap:
Day three of the Parapan American Games featured the U.S. bringing home win number four with a 54-36 win over Brazil. The physical matchup between the two nations allowed Brazil to keep it close for the early minutes of the first, but the Americans pulled away to maintain a double-digit margin for the remainder of the match. Top scorers for today’s match were Chuck Aoki (Minneapolis, MN) with 19 and Sarah Adam (Naperville, IL) with 12.
As in the earlier matches this week, USA’s youngest athlete Zion Redington (Birmingham, AL) got some valuable time on the court. “I really prepared to have a learning mindset here. I know I’m 17 years old and this is only my second international tournament. I know I’m not going to get everything right; I know I have my teammates to coach me up on the court and Coach (Delagrave) to help me learn.”
Next up for the United States is Canada. Both nations come into this game undefeated, with big margins of victory in every match. “We know them well and they know us well,” said USA Coach Joe Delagrave. “An advantage for us is that we have some new athletes and some new line ups, will be a good game tomorrow. We look good, team has come together well, we are ready.”
Tuesday’s match with Canada is set for 12 noon CT.
The winner of the 2023 Parapan American Games punches their ticket to Paris. For updates on all of the action from Santiago visit https://www.panamsportschannel.org
Day 2 Recap:
Team USA kept up its winning ways picking up a third win at the Parapan American Games today with a win over Colombia, 57-42 . The Americans continued to utilize a broad cross section of talent on the court running different line ups throughout the four periods.
“Today was another great team effort,” said USA’s Lee Fredette (East Moriches, NY). “I am trying to be a bit of a leader for the younger guys, step up where I need to. I love running different lines. It’s been great. The team has a lot of good chemistry and work well as a unit. To be able to get everyone out there, its super helpful to all of us. A deep bench is key to winning.”
Top scorers for the U.S. were Chuck Aoki (Minneapolis, MN) with 19 and Sarah Adam (Naperville, IL) with 15.
Next up for the United States is Brazil set for 10 a.m. CT on Monday.
Day 1 Recap:
USA Wheelchair Rugby opened the 2023 Parapan American Games with strong wins over Chile (62-27) and Argentina (55-31).
In the early game the U.S. took a commanding 17-4 lead after the first and never looked back. The packed stadium offered a fantastic atmosphere for the opening wheelchair rugby match of these Games, but the fan support was not enough for Chile to match the dominate U.S. squad. Top scorer for USA in the opener was Zion Redington (Birmingham, AL) with 26. “It was a good first game today. It was a fun crowd, “ said Head Coach Joe Delagrave. “We have eight guys that this is their first Parapan American Games and some of them their first international Games ever, so it was great to get them on the court. Guys like Zion (Redington) and Chris Fleace, Travis Baker, and Brad (Hudspeth) who played a little in Paris, but this helped get his feet wet again. Overall great to see those guys play hard and it allows those that usually play a lot of minutes to flip roles and be good cheerleaders.”
The Americans took to the court again for last match of the day facing Argentina. While the Argentinians managed to keep it close in the opening minutes the U.S. would again pull away stretching their lead throughout the match. Top scorer in Game 2 was again newcomer Zion Redington with 16. As in Game 1, the U.S. had the opportunity to get several first time Parapan American athletes on the court including U.S. military Veteran, Chris Fleace (Tucson, AZ) “This has been a great experience so far, better than I could have imagined;” said Fleace. As someone who has served my nation previously, getting to work together again with other men and women for a common cause has given me a real fulfillment. It is life changing and rewarding.”
Next up for the United States is Colombia set for 1:30 p.m. CT on Sunday.
The winner of the 2023 Parapan American Games punches their ticket to Paris. For updates on all of the action from Santiago visit https://www.panamsportschannel.org