Coach Profile - Joseph Soares, Head Coach, Canadian National Wheelchair Rugby Team

JOSEPH SOARES

Head Coach, Canadian National
Wheelchair Rugby Team

[ Français ]

Born:	Azores, Portugal	Classification:	"3.5"
Residence:	Tampa, FL, USA	Started playing in:	1989
Birth Date:	August 13, 1959	Years Coaching:	5
Height: Weight:	5' 8" 140 lbs	Canadian Head Coach since:	2001
Hobbies:	Hand cycling, family outings, live sporting events, and movies	Clubs:	Canadian National Team, Canada Nordiques, Canada Ice, Hoveround Lightning
Languages:	English, Portuguese	Occupation:	Full-time coach

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

As an elite athlete, Joe has been a long time "Court General" for highly successful US-based rugby teams and although his playing days are not over, he now wants to dedicate more of his time and expertise to coaching. He started playing rugby in 1989 and is the only player to have participated in 13 consecutive US National Championships. While a member of the Tampa Generals, his team held a 93-game consecutive winning streak and had 41 consecutive tournament final appearances.
During the 2000/01 season Joe was a player/coach for the for the Suncoast Lightning (now called the Hoveround Lightning) in Sarasota, Florida. Under his guidance and leadership, they qualified for their first ever berth in the USQRA Division 1 National Championship. Joe's play earned him a position on the tournament All-Star Team at this Championship, which is the top level of competition in the States. The USA has traditionally been the dominant country in the sport, and competition at this level is intense. In 1998, Joe coached the Tampa Generals, who ended Sharp Shadow's 70-game winning streak that year.
Joe has great attention to detail, and has spent countless hours analysing strengths and weaknesses of top teams from around the world, and developing new strategies to exploit those weaknesses. As a coach, he tends to develop teams with superior ball control, great patience, and solid discipline as exhibited by his teams never getting offensive penalties. Those strategies paid off at the 2002 World Championships, where Joe coached his disciplined Canadian team to gold in Gothenburg.
Outside of rugby, Joe enjoys playing tennis and basketball. He was a finalist in singles and a champion in doubles at the 1996 US Open for wheelchair tennis in the Quad "A" Division, and has earned several all-tournament team selections during his 24 years of experience playing basketball. Joe and his wife Patricia have two sons, Joseph, 21 and Robert, 13.

COACHING HIGHLIGHTS:

YEAR:	COMPETITION:	LOCATION:	RESULT:
2004	Demolition Derby International (Canada)	Birmingham, AL, USA	2nd
2003	World Wheelchair Games (Canada Nordiques)	Christchurch, New Zealand	2nd
2003	USQRA Division I Nationals (San Diego Bushwhackers)	Phoenix, AZ, USA	4th
2002	Best of the West (San Diego Bushwhackers)	San Diego, CA, USA	3rd
2002	USQRA / MLR Tournament (San Diego Bushwhackers)	Las Vegas, NV, USA	2nd
2002	3rd IWRF World Championships (Canada)	Gothenburg, Sweden	1st
2002	Vancouver Invitational (Canada Ice)	Vancouver, BC	2nd
2002	Demolition Derby (Canada Nordiques)	Birmingham, AL, USA	3rd
2002	Mini-International Tournament (Canada)	Montgomery, AL, USA	2nd
2002	World Rugby Challenge (Canada Nordiques)	Warm Springs, GA, USA	3rd
2001	USQRA Division 1 Nationals (Suncoast Lightning)	San Diego, CA, USA	7th
2001	USQRA Division 1 Sectionals (Suncoast Lightning)	Warm Springs, GA, USA	2nd
2001	Conveen International (Suncoast Lightning)	Tampa, FL, USA	6th
2000	Valdosta Cup (Suncoast Lightning)	Valdosta, GA, USA	3rd
1998	USQRA Division 1 Nationals (Tampa Generals)	Salt Lake City, UT, USA	3rd
1998	Houston Hurricanes Tournament (Tampa Generals)	Houston, TX, USA	1st
1998	Conveen International (Tampa Generals)	Tampa, FL, USA	2nd
1997	Shepherd Showdown (Tampa Generals)	Atlanta, GA, USA	1st

COMPETITIVE HIGHLIGHTS:

YEAR:	COMPETITION:	LOCATION:	RESULT:
2004	Coloplast International (Hoveround Lightning)	Tampa, FL	3rd
2003	14th Annual Valdosta Cup (Hoveround Lightning)	Valdosta, GA	1st
2003	Québec Rendez-Vous (Canada Avalanche)	Québec, QC	2nd
1998	2nd IWRF World Championships (United States)	Toronto, ON	1st
1996	Paralympic Games (United States)	Atlanta, GA, USA	1st
1995	1st IWRF World Championships (United States)	Notwil, Switzerland	1st
'92, '93, & '95	USA National Championships (Tampa Generals)	USA	1st
1994	ISMWSF World Wheelchair Games (United States)	Aylesbury, England	1st
1993	ISMWSF World Wheelchair Games (United States)	Aylesbury, England	1st
32 All-Tournament team selections – 13 overall MVP selections – All-time leading scorer, USQRA – The only person in the sport to have won all 3 World Championships (2 as a player, 1 as a coach)

Athlete Profile Gallery