Joe Soares(I)

Wheelchair rugby champion Joe Soares was born on August 13, 1959 in Portugal. Soares grew up in a poor family and moved with his family to Providence, Rhode Island at age eleven. Afflicted with polio at age nine, Joe initially continued to walk using crutches before switching to a wheelchair while in high school. Soares played wheelchair basketball for eleven years prior to going on to play wheelchair rugby in February, 1989. Joe has the distinction of being the only wheelchair rugby player to compete in thirteen consecutive US National Championships. Among his most notable achievements as a wheelchair rugby player are: The gold medal at the 1993 and 1994 International Games for Team USA, the gold medal in the 1995 1st World Championships for Team USA, and the gold medal at the 1996 Paralympics for Team USA. Moreover, Soares was a key member of the highly successful wheelchair rugby team the Tampa Generals, who won ninety-three consecutive games over a three year period.

After being cut from the American team in 1996, Joe became the head coach for the rival Canadian team from 2001 to 2004; he went on to serve as head coach for Team Great Britain from 2005 to 2008, Team Poland from 2008 to 2010, and Team Germany from 2010 to 2014. His accomplishments as a coach include the silver medal at the 2004 Paralympics for Team Canada, the gold medal at the 2002 World Championships for Team Canada, and the gold medal at both the 2005 and 2007 Euro Championships for Team Great Britain. Moreover, Soares was voted Coach of the Year in 2002 and inducted into the United States Quad Rugby Hall of Fame in 2011. Joe is married to wife Patricia and has two sons, Robert and Joseph.