Arley McNeney
Arley McNeney Cruthers (born 1983) is a Canadian former Paralympic wheelchair basketball player and applied communications instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. She has won a bronze medal with the Canada women's national wheelchair basketball team at the 2004 Summer Paralympics.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | Canada | |||||||||||||||||||
Born | 1983 (age 37–38) New Westminster, British Columbia | |||||||||||||||||||
Education | University of Victoria MFA, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign | |||||||||||||||||||
Spouse(s) | Chris Cruthers | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life and education
McNeney was born and raised in New Westminster, British Columbia. At the age of 11, she was diagnosed with avascular necrosis and confined to a wheelchair and crutches until she was 27.[1]
McNeney attended the University of Victoria and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where she earned her MFA and competed on the Fighting Illini women's varsity wheelchair basketball team.[2]
Career
McNeney joined Canada women's national wheelchair basketball team in 2001,[3] and won gold at the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship the next year.[4] As a result, she was the recipient of BC's Premier Athletic Award for New Westminster.[5] In 2004, McNeney was named to Team Canada's national wheelchair basketball team to compete at the 2004 Summer Paralympics,[6] where she helped them win bronze.[7] Two years later, she was named to Team Canada for the 2006 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship.[8]
In 2008, she was selected to compete at the Osaka Cup.[9] However, she was forced to retire from wheelchair basketball after undergoing hip replacement surgery which allowed her to walk again.[1] In 2014, she received the BC Wheelchair Basketball Society's Coach of the Year award.[10]
While working as a communications instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, McNeney and her husband Chris Cruthers began conducting workshops for disabled individuals regarding online dating.[11]
Author
In 2007, she wrote a book on her experience with the Canadian women's wheelchair basketball team and her retirement,[12] which was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Foundation prizes.[13] A few years later, she wrote her second book called "The Time We All Went Marching," based on memoirs from her grandmother.[4][14]
References
- Cahute, Larissa (February 4, 2016). "SheTalks: Disability opened doors for Vancouver wheelchair basketball champion". The Province. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- "McNeney Arley". abcbookworld.com. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- "BC Athletes Make Up a Third of Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Teams". bcwheelchairsports.com. June 8, 2001. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- Berry, Michelle (November 18, 2011). "The Time We All Went Marching, by Arley McNeney". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- "PREMIER HONOURS B.C.'S TOP ATHLETES". archive.news.gov.bc.ca. March 12, 2002. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- "B.C. ATHLETES REPRESENTING CANADA IN ATHENS". archive.news.gov.bc.ca. July 19, 2004. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- "BCWBS ATHLETES WIN GOLD IN ATHENS" (PDF). letsplaybc.com. 2004. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- "OUR CONGRATULATIONS GO OUT TO…" (PDF). letsplaybc.com. Summer 2005. p. 3. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- "Canada's national women's wheelchair basketball team to compete in Osaka Cup 2008 in Japan". paralympic.ca. February 11, 2008. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- "BCWBS Congratulates Recipients of Annual Awards". bcwbs.ca. March 13, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- Raphael, Philip (February 11, 2016). "Love finds a way — wheelchair and all". Richmond News. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- Gillespie, Mike (July 22, 2007). "Scary stuff from mystery writer, political analyst". Times Colonist. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- "Ondaatje among Canadians vying for Commonwealth Writers' Prize". cbc.ca. February 14, 2008. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- Iseli-Otto, Sabina (December 9, 2011). "Author crafts story out of family history". BC Local News. Retrieved January 5, 2020.