UC professor to work with Team USA at the Paralympics

MeMe Earnest-Stanley, who earned a doctorate degree in physical therapy from UC and teaches in the College of Allied Health Sciences, will leave for Paris with Team USA on Aug. 20. She’s worked with the team since December 2020, but this will be her first Paralympic experience.

“I’m glad that this is my first one and not Tokyo because this is going to be an actual, true Olympic and Paralympic experience with all the fans,” Earnest-Stanley said, referencing the Tokyo Games, where spectators were banned because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a physical therapist and athletic trainer, Earnest-Stanley travels with Team USA wheelchair rugby to training camps and to competitions around the world. The schedule varies within the four-year Paralympic cycle, with more competitions in the past year leading up to the Games, including a trip to Paris last fall for a warm-up tournament.

“I’m lucky that the university, the college, my department and my colleagues really support me in working with Team USA,” Earnest-Stanley said.

Earnest-Stanley works with athletes before, during and after competitions. Prior to games, she assists athletes with warmup and rehabilitation. During games, she attends to injuries and collaborates with the team’s dietician to keep athletes fueled. Following games, she helps athletes cool down and addresses aches and pains.

Shoulder and elbow injuries from overuse are common in wheelchair rugby, and sometimes athletes get knocked over in the full-contact sport that combines elements of rugby, basketball and handball.

Athletes who have disabilities can encounter additional complications, such as increased heat intolerance, which requires preparation that includes ice baths, cold towels, spray bottles, fans and ice pops.

Another complexity is the frequency of illnesses. Earnest-Stanley has to watch for ailments such as urinary tract infections and wounds that could lead to autonomic dysreflexia, a dangerous syndrome involving an imbalance within the autonomic nervous system that can raise blood pressure and lead to strokes.

“Athletes who have been disabled for a while know their bodies,” Earnest-Stanley said. “While I have my own medical knowledge, they tend to have a pretty good feeling for when something is wrong with them, and they might have a good idea that I can help confirm — or I might consider something else during my assessment.”

Earnest-Stanley has been active in sports her entire life and played soccer through her undergraduate years of college. She became interested in adaptive sports, which are competitive or recreational sports for people with disabilities, late during her undergraduate years, when she worked with a Special Olympics group.

In physical therapy school, she explored wellness, injury prevention and health promotion for people with disabilities. She also volunteered with the Cincinnati Dragons, a local wheelchair basketball team.

“That had a huge influence on my educational journey,” she said. “I was getting hands-on experience and learning a lot from the athletes and families I was volunteering with.”

She first became interested in wheelchair rugby during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics.

“My first summer semester [at UC], I was grinding to adjust to the graduate school workload,” Earnest-Stanley said, “but during lunch with my classmates, I would put on the Paralympic Games, and I remember watching wheelchair rugby and seeing their athletic trainer out there working. I was like, ‘I want to do that.’

“I was fascinated by how they could demonstrate athleticism in a wheelchair, which is different than what I thought athleticism looked like growing up playing soccer, softball and all those different sports. To see that is something I still love and enjoy working with.”

The first wheelchair rugby games at the 2024 Paralympics are scheduled for Aug. 29, when the United States will face Canada in a preliminary round match. The U.S. also has preliminary round games against Japan and Germany at Champ-de-Mars Arena.

Team USA has been one of the most successful wheelchair rugby teams in the world, winning medals at every Paralympics they’ve attended. Wheelchair rugby was a demonstration sport at the 1996 Atlanta Games and gained full medal status at the 2000 Sydney Games. The United States won gold in 1996, 2000 and 2008 and won silver at the last two Paralympics.

At UC, Earnest-Stanley teaches an adaptive sports athletic training elective and co-teaches another adaptive sports elective within the physical therapy program with adjunct instructor Danny Meyer.

Along with adaptive athletes and health care providers, Earnest-Stanley, Meyer and Victoria Heasley, an assistant professor of clinical studies at UC, created a nonprofit, The Bridge Adaptive Sports and Recreation. The group is working to create opportunities in adaptive sports in Cincinnati and at UC.

“This is really something that’s innovative and impactful, and it’s going to lead to more inclusion,” Earnest-Stanley said.

Earnest-Stanley, who intently watched the Paris Olympics, is excited for the Paralympic Games and grateful that she will get to be a part of Team USA.

“I’ve only been able to achieve this wild, crazy dream of mine because of the support I got while I was a student at UC from our program director, Chalee Engelhard, and Kari Dunning, who is the director of our department,” Earnest-Stanley said. “They were honest and said, ‘We don’t know anything about adaptive sports but we want to support you in getting there.’ Because of their support, I’ve been able to get here and have found my love for academia and teaching. My goal as a faculty member is to help support our students in achieving whatever their wildest professional dream is so they can go ahead and make a big impact in their community in a way that’s meaningful for them.”

Featured image at top: MeMe Earnest-Stanley, back row, left, who teaches in UC's College of Allied Health Sciences, takes a photo with Team USA following the 2024 Wheelchair Rugby Quad Nations in Cardiff, Wales. Photo/Melanie Butez, melaniebutez.com