SANTIAGO, Chile — Sarah Adam loves to “stay in motion.” 

Adam, an assistant professor at Saint Louis University in occupational therapy, has been doing just that. She’s balancing life as a professor and life as a member of the United States Wheelchair Rugby team simultaneously at the 2023 Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile. 

She’s had a couple remote lectures and stayed on top of her emails while contributing to the United States’ undefeated start in the preliminary round. Across four matches, Adam has recorded 37 tries as the U.S. has defeated every opponent by at least 15 tries. On Tuesday, it’ll complete preliminary play against Canada, which is also undefeated. On Monday, the United States defeated Brazil 54-36, led by Charles Aoki’s 20 tries. Adam had eight. 

“An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion,” Adam said. “I stay in motion. I keep busy.”

Adam holds her Doctorate of Occupational Therapy degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Earlier in her graduate studies, Adam was actually an able-bodied individual who wanted to combine her love of sports and occupational therapy. So, she volunteered in wheelchair rugby, which was her initial introduction to the sport. 

But back in 2016, Adam received a multiple sclerosis diagnosis. She had noticed some warning signs like numbness in her hands in high school, but as she progressed into graduate school, the situation worsened. Adam said she didn’t share that diagnosis with anyone, taking time to process it herself. But after that, her mindset changed. 

“I always figured who better than an occupational therapist to be able to manage this disease and ever since then, flipped the switch and it just kept going.”

Being officially classed into the sport in 2019, Adam has the opportunity to be a part of the United States’ Paralympic team for the Paris 2024 Games. At the Parapan American Games, Adam said it’s the first time she’s truly been in a Paralympic village. A spot on the Paralympic roster would be history, as Adam would become the first woman on a U.S. Paralympic wheelchair rugby roster. 

So far, Adam’s best performance statistically came against Colombia, where she had 15 tries in a 57-42 win, which has been the U.S.’s lowest margin of victory so far. Offensively, she’s been seen on the court scoring and assisting while defensively, Adam has been an integral part in chair-contacting opponents to force turnovers and prevent tries. 

Adam was involved in some capacity in the first four tries against Brazil on Monday. She helped Aoki score three of the first four, before scoring one of her own. 

“Hopefully, you get the chance to be in Paris for the Paris 2024 games with the team,” Adam said. “We got a lot of new players, myself included, that need the experience, need the court time, need to experience a village like this with some of the distractions to be able to kind of practice everything from our sleep and nutrition to our court.”

Adam views wheelchair rugby like a chess match. The sport requires teams to be multiple steps ahead of your opponent, Adam said. It’s similar to softball, Adam said, mentioning softball was her strongest sport growing up and how the sport requires players to predict offensive strategies and where the ball might go. 

There’s also the competitive aspect in both sports, which Adam got from her older brother and family. Adam said she grew up in a very competitive, sport-minded family, trying as many sports as she could. 

Growing up in a sports family with her brother helped her compete in a male-dominated sport. But that’s something that Adam wants to change. She knows the general thought is that wheelchair rugby isn’t known to be a coed sport, but that’s what she is trying to change in her journey on the international level. 

“My goal is to get a therapist to get people out there, introduce this to females, introduce adaptive sports for females because it’s just as powerful,” Adam said. “There’s a lot of us out there that are athletes that want to be able to go back and compete. And if I can have a role in making that happen, I’m happy to do it.”

The United States faces Canada on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

 
For more photos of this event, visit here.