Brian Bell

Started: He began playing wheelchair basketball at age 12 in Birmingham, AL, United States of America. (Athlete, 03 May 2016) Reason: "After I did all the rehabilitation and went back to school, I played middle school [American] football on my prosthetic because I just loved sports so much. My mum worked as a nurse at Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, and they have a bunch of adaptive sports for people with disabilities. So when I was 12 or 13, I went there one Saturday, when they let people come in and try these sports. I jumped into a basketball chair, and I fell in love with it right away. The coach of the middle school and high school teams [at Lakeshore] was there that day, and he saw me and asked who I was. So that got me started." (livingwithamplitude.com, 02 Mar 2021) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (Instagram profile, 28 Nov 2023) Awards: He was named the 2006 Most Valuable Player [MVP] of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association [NWBA] Junior Division. (si.com, 2006) Additional Info: PLAYING IN EUROPE From 2017 until 2022 he played for German Bundesliga team RSV Lahn-Dill. Before that he played in Italy for four years with Briantea 84. "The biggest thing is that there's money behind the sport here [in Germany]. There are people who are willing to invest in it. There's promotion, there are sponsors. That's the biggest issue that we've had in the US. It's hard to find sponsors who can help grow the sport, get it more coverage and more exposure. On top of that, in Europe there are fewer competing sports. In Germany the top sports are football, of course, and European handball. Wheelchair basketball is like the third or fourth biggest sport. The fan base here is really big. Once fans see it and get involved, they stay with it for the long term. I know that playing here, there's a long history and tradition behind the team." (LinkedIn profile, 03 Dec 2023; livingwithamplitude.com, 02 Mar 2021) FURTHER EDUCATION Between 2019 and 2021 he studied for a master's degree in human resources at DeVry University in the United States of America. (LinkedIn profile, 03 Dec 2023) OCCUPATION In 2022 he began working full-time for a payment services company in Foster City, CA, United States of America. (LinkedIn profile, 03 Dec 2023)