Abby Dunkin has proven herself on the track, and now she is working hard to prove herself on the court. This tough young woman keeps believing in her faith and herself to meet life’s challenges. Here’s her sports story…

What is your hometown? It is New Braunfels, Texas. 

What sports do you play? I focus on wheelchair basketball. I have competed in wheelchair track and shot put in the past.

What superpowers do you posses? Good Lord, I don’t know. That’s a good one. Through out this whole journey, it has been my strength.

How would you define strength? Are you talking about mental, emotional or physical? All of them. I think my mental and emotional strength have come a long way. Physically, as any athlete, you always want to get stronger. I have a lot of work to do in that area.

What accomplishments in sports are you most proud of? When I won three events at the state meet. It was such a blessing. It was definitely one of my top ten coolest moments.

In 2014, as a senior, Abby competed in the first state track championship to include wheelchair events in Texas. It was an important moment for Abby and all high school track athletes in Texas. It demonstrated great progress and further inclusion of adaptive athletes in interscholastic sports.  At the championship, Abby won the 100m, 400m and shot put.  However, the highlight of the meet was when Abby stopped after she crossed the finish line in the 400m and waited for the three other female track athletes to finish. They then marked this triumphant moment together with a victory lap. The crowd responded with a standing ovation while the coaches and officials wiped tears from their faces. Reminding us of the power of sport and the Paralympic mission “To make for a more inclusive society for people with an impairment through para-sport.”

Just recently in August, Abby had another incredible sports moment. She represented the United States at the 2015 Parapan Games in Toronto. Since it was her rookie year, she saw most of her play time in the early playoffs which eventually led Team USA to the gold medal game against Canada. It was an intense final match up. Fortunately, Team USA pushed hard and earned their way on to the podium. Abby reflected, “People tell you that it is an amazing experience to have the national anthem play for you after you win a gold, but no words can express the feeling. We were all tearing up.” 

She also shared stories about all of the excitement that surrounded the Parapan Games and playing at an international level like being escorted by security guards, trading apparel with athletes from other countries, and using phones to communicate with athletes who spoke languages other than English. For Abby, all of the energy and excitement of the Parapan Games have created a more intense focus on achieving her goal of playing wheelchair basketball in Rio at the 2016 Paralympic Games. She stated, “I am now ready to work even harder. I want to get to the gym more and push harder.” 

What books inspire you? The book I mostly read is The Bible. I am also really into war and military type books.

What is on your playlist when you train? I am into acoustics. I like Voice Avenue, James Bay, and Ed Sheeran.  When I am practicing free throws I listen to the band, Explosions in the Sky. The songs don’t have any words. I’m weird like that because before a game I try not to get too hyped up. Instead, I try to stay calm. I like to get focused and more into “the zone.”

What is your mantra that keeps you going during tough workouts or bad days? In high school before a game, we would write our goals on our wrist. It could be something like to get more rebounds or score more points. But I would write, 2T4:7 which is a quote from The Bible. It says, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.” In college, I decided to have that quote tattooed on my wrist. Now in a game, I can look down at it and it is a quick reminder and pick me up.

How would you define ability? Ability…I haven’t really thought about that. (Pause.) It is what you can do and not letting anything hold you back, no matter the circumstances.

How would you define grit and relate it to yourself? Grit is really how bad you want something. Like when you have all of these obstacles facing you, and you need to decide if you are willing to push past them or are you willing to just let it play out. I have learned to push through them.

If you’re wondering Abby’s age, she is 19. She now plays wheelchair basketball for University of Texas Arlington (UTA). This past year was the first season UTA had a women’s wheelchair basketball team, and Abby hopes for a great second season. She is studying kinesiology and plans to go into coaching or working with wounded soldiers through adaptive sports. She explains that her desire to work with wounded warriors stems from being a “military brat.” She proudly states, “My dad was a marine officer. My grandfather was a general in the Marines. We are a Marine family.”

What is your sports story? I was playing basketball in the able-bodied way, and God decided, ‘No, that is not what you are supposed to do.’ He put me in a chair and was like, ‘Here is what you are going to do.’ I could write a short story about what I have lost, but a novel about what I have gained in life. I have gained a totally new perspective not only on the game, but on life. I have a perspective now that I could never have had if I stayed able-bodied, and I don’t regret it.

When you were playing able-bodied ball, did you know about wheelchair basketball and the Paralympics? Not really. I really had no idea what it was and now that I play it. I love it way more than I did able-bodied basketball. It’s more contact. It’s more everything.

What advice do you have for other athletes? You can talk all you want about how bad you want it, but it does’t matter unless you do something about it. If you want it, go get it. Nothing is holding you back.

What are your workouts like? We do weights which is pretty much all upper body. For conditioning, we push around the gym a lot. We do mostly sprints. The worst are when we do a 12 minute push. It is when you sprint around the gym for 12 minutes. It sucks.  And, we practice lots of shooting.

Who would you like to thank? My biggest supporter is my mom. She has been awesome. I want to thank everyone at UTA. All of my teammates at UTA and in New Braunfels. My whole community in New Braunfels has been amazing. They have been there since I got in a wheelchair. I really want to thank everyone who has helped me along the way. It has been a huge blessing.

To learn more about Abby you can read these articles:

Dallas News “A year ago I was in deep depression,” she said. “Not where I needed to be. But God has opened so many doors, and I’ve realized there’s more out there for me.”

Yahoo News “We can accomplish the same goal,” she said. 

Washington News “Being able to compete with them was special. We’re just laying the foundation for something bigger.”