Amy Conroy

Started: She began the sport at age 16 at the Norwich Lowriders wheelchair basketball club. (Athlete, 20 Jul 2016) Reason: She had always loved sports and wanted to carry on playing after losing her leg. She was introduced to the sport by her father, who wanted her to spend time with other people with impairments. (Athlete, 20 Jul 2016; thesun.co.uk, 28 Jul 2019) Ambition: To win gold at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (bbc.co.uk, 17 Jul 2024) Awards: She was named Most Valuable Player at the 2015 World U25 Championships in Beijing, People's Republic of China. (fiba.basketball, 30 May 2019) Additional Info: PLAYING IN MIXED LEAGUES She spent a lot of her career playing in mixed leagues. She feels the experience of playing against both men and women has forced her to adapt her game and has improved her as a player. "I think I was the only female on my team before, which is good to play against guys because they're taller naturally and don't treat you any differently and it's all very aggressive. But obviously the game is different when you're playing against men or women, because in the female game I'm pretty tall whereas against guys I can get swatted, so I have to change my playing style a little bit." (anchor.fm, 16 Dec 2020) POST-PARIS PLANS After the 2024 Paralympic Games she hopes to launch a business with her sister, running wheelchair basketball sessions as corporate team-building exercises. "I think it's all stemmed from how I've seen the power of awareness of the sport. I think it can defy expectations and almost redefine what people think of as strength. The plan is to get able-bodied people [in] businesses trying wheelchair basketball for team bonding, and also to see what it's like in a chair." (bbc.co.uk, 17 Jul 2024) MODELLING She has worked as a part-time model. "I think any awareness is powerful and, occasionally, I have done things where I've felt like I'm a bit of a tick box here. Maybe it's not super-authentic. You know [where] there [are] lots of stairs - it's not been thought about. I think any awareness for any kid who's kind of struggling with accepting a new image or a new kind of way of life in a chair, can see it and think, 'Actually no, life is always going to be as good, it's just going to be different than I pictured'. If it can help anyone that's my main goal. I just think the more authentic it becomes the better. I want people to think having prosthetic legs is cool." (bbc.co.uk, 17 Jul 2024)