Born with a limb deficiency affecting his right leg, Shawn Russell was 16 when he decided to have it amputated through the knee. While recovering in hospital, wheelchair basketball pioneer Eino Okkonen encouraged Shawn to give wheelchair basketball a try, and though initially reluctant, he attended a Wollongong Roller Hawks training session and was hooked.
Making his Rollers debut at the 2009 IWBF Asia-Oceania Championships in Dandenong, where he and the team won gold, Shawn also helped to secure victories in the NWBL, winning two championship titles with the Wollongong Roller Hawks.
Narrowly missing selection for the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Shawn helped lead the Rollers to victory at the 2015 IWBF Asian Oceania Zonal Championship to qualify for Rio.
Shockingly, at Rio 2016 the Rollers were eliminated from gold medal contention in a 23-point loss to Great Britain in the quarter finals.
Farmborough Heights local Shawn is inspired by …
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Born with a limb deficiency affecting his right leg, Shawn Russell was 16 when he decided to have it amputated through the knee. While recovering in hospital, wheelchair basketball pioneer Eino Okkonen encouraged Shawn to give wheelchair basketball a try, and though initially reluctant, he attended a Wollongong Roller Hawks training session and was hooked.
Making his Rollers debut at the 2009 IWBF Asia-Oceania Championships in Dandenong, where he and the team won gold, Shawn also helped to secure victories in the NWBL, winning two championship titles with the Wollongong Roller Hawks.
Narrowly missing selection for the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Shawn helped lead the Rollers to victory at the 2015 IWBF Asian Oceania Zonal Championship to qualify for Rio.
Shockingly, at Rio 2016 the Rollers were eliminated from gold medal contention in a 23-point loss to Great Britain in the quarter finals.
Farmborough Heights local Shawn is inspired by wheelchair basketballers Eino, Troy Sachs and Tristan Knowles, and NBA legend Michael Jordan, who Shawn admires for both his longevity and the role he played in shaping the game.
Currently representing the Kilsyth Cobras, ‘The Huss’ is also a qualified metalworker, having completed a TAFE course in Fitting and Turning in 2009.
In his spare time he enjoys going to the movies and watching Orlando Magic compete in the NBA.
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