Leah Evans

{{Infobox sportsperson|

| headercolor = darkblue

| textcolor = white

| name = Leah Evans

| image = Leah Evans.JPG

| caption = Evans in 2015

| fullname =

| nicknames =

| nationality = {{GBR}}

| club = Sheffield Steelers

| collegeteam =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1997|3|5|df=y}}

| birth_place = Wakefield

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = 5'7"

| weight =

| country = Great Britain

| sport = Wheelchair basketball

| event = Women's team

| disability_class = 2.0

| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport |Wheelchair basketball}}

{{MedalBronze|2015 Worcester, England|Women's wheelchair basketball}}

{{MedalBronze|2017 Tenriffe, Spain|Women's wheelchair basketball}}

{{MedalSilver|2018 Hamburg, Germany|Women's wheelchair basketball}}

}}

Leah Evans (born 5 March 1997) is a 2.0 point British wheelchair basketball player who represented Great Britain at the 2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Beijing.

Biography

Leah Evans was born in Wakefield,{{cite web |url=http://www.caudwellchildren.com/news-and-media/news/appeals/295-appeal-launched-to-support-disabled-basketball-players-gb-dream |title=Appeal launched to support disabled basketball players GB Dream |publisher=Caudwell Children |accessdate=3 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705023952/http://caudwellchildren.com/news-and-media/news/appeals/295-appeal-launched-to-support-disabled-basketball-players-gb-dream |archive-date=5 July 2014 |url-status=dead }} on 5 March 1997.{{cite book |title=Team Entry List, U25 World Championship for Women |location=Beijing |publisher=International Wheelchair Basketball Federation |year=2015 }} She was born with a rare hip condition that restricted her growth and movement. When she was four years old, she was told that she would never walk. However, she did and also danced six days a week. In 2012, she had a serious fall.{{cite news |newspaper=The Star |url=http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/help-get-leah-to-the-rio-paralympic-games-1-7398987 |title=Help get Leah to the Rio Paralympic Games |date=9 August 2015 |accessdate=3 September 2015 }} She was taken to hospital where her hip was surgically reconstructed. She was given the news that she would require a wheelchair, and would not be able to dance.

Although Evans had never been what she calls a "sporty type", she took up wheelchair basketball in 2013. She is a 2.5 point player.{{cite web |url=http://www.euro2015.uk/euros/index.cfm/teams/womens/great-britain/ |title=Great Britain - European Wheelchair Basketball Championship 2015 |publisher=International Wheelchair Basketball Federation |accessdate=3 September 2015 }} She began playing for the Sheffield Steelers. She played for England North at the Sainsbury's School Games in 2013, winning gold,{{cite web |url=http://www.gbwba.org.uk/gbwba/index.cfm/wheelchair-basketball/womens-programme/all-star-game1/team-east1/leah-evans/ |title=Leah Evans |publisher=British Wheelchair Basketball |accessdate=3 September 2015 }} and was captain of the team in 2014,{{cite web |url=http://www.2015schoolgames.com/2042.php |title=Squad Announcement: Wheelchair Basketball |publisher=Sainsbury's 2015 School Games |accessdate=3 September 2015 }} winning silver. That year she played with the U25 national team at the European Championships in Hanover, Germany, where she won silver, and with the Steelers at the Copper Box in the National Paralympic Day game against the Netherlands. In 2015, she made her debut with the senior team at the Osaka Cup in Japan, winning silver, won a gold medal at the 2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Beijing,{{cite web |url=http://www.gbwba.org.uk/gbwba/index.cfm/news/great-britain-crowned-womens-u25-world-champions/ |title=Great Britain crowned Women's U25 World Champions! |publisher=British Wheelchair Basketball |accessdate=6 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924021243/http://www.gbwba.org.uk/gbwba/index.cfm/news/great-britain-crowned-womens-u25-world-champions/ |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead }} and played for the senior team at European Championships in Worcester, winning bronze. She launched an appeal to help buy a new sports chair, which costs £3750. In May 2016, she was named as part of the team for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.{{cite web |url=https://www.paralympic.org/news/british-women-s-wheelchair-basketball-team-named-rio |title=British women's wheelchair basketball team named for Rio |date=13 May 2016 |publisher=International Paralympic Committee |access-date=6 September 2016}} The British team produced its best ever performance at the Paralympics, making it to the semi-finals, but lost in the semi-final to the United States, and then the bronze medal match to the Netherlands.{{cite news |url=http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/sport/14748897.GB_women___s_wheelchair_basketball_team_miss_out_on_bronze_medal_to_dominant_Dutch_in_Rio/ |title=University of Worcester-based GB women's wheelchair basketball team miss out on bronze medal to dominant Dutch in Rio Paralympics |newspaper=Worcester News |first=Geoff |last=Berkeley |date=17 September 2016 |access-date=18 September 2016 }}

Evans completed her A-levels, and in September 2015 entered the University of Worcester, where she intends to study Sports Science.{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/leah.evans.587/about?section=overview&pnref=about |title=Leah Evans |publisher=Facebook |accessdate=3 September 2015 }}

Achievements

2014: Silver at the 2014 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball European Championship (Hanover, Germany)
2015: Silver at the Osaka Cup (Osaka, Japan)
2015: Gold at the 2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship (Beijing, China)
2015: Bronze at the European Championships (Worcester, England) {{cite web |url=http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1029917/germany-earn-10th-womens-european-wheelchair-basketball-championship-title-as-hosts-britain-win-mens-gold |title=Germany earn 10th women's European Wheelchair Basketball Championship title as hosts Britain win men's gold |publisher=Inside the Games |accessdate=9 September 2015 }}
2016: Fourth at the 2016 Paralympics (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil){{cite web |url=https://www.paralympic.org/static/info/rio-2016/eng/wb/engwb_wheelchair-basketball-summary-women-s.htm |title=Summary - Wheelchair Basketball |publisher=International Paralympic Committee |access-date=11 February 2017 }}
2017: Bronze at the European Championships (Tenerife, Spain){{cite web |url=http://www.britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk/gbwba/index.cfm/gb-teams/gb-players/gb-women/sophie-carrigill/ |title=Sophie Carrigill |publisher=British Wheelchair Basketball |access-date=1 September 2018 }}
2018: Silver at the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship (Hamburg, Germany) {{cite web |url=http://www.fibalivestats.com/u/IWBFW/916102/bs.html |title=NED v GBR |publisher=FIBA LiveStats |access-date=1 September 2018 }}

References

{{Great Britain national women's wheelchair basketball team - 2016 Summer Paralympics}}

Category:British women's wheelchair basketball players

Category:1997 births

Category:Living people

Category:Sportspeople from Wakefield

Category:Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Great Britain

Category:Wheelchair basketball players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics