Palma posthumously makes Wheelchair Rugby Hall

An Ash Grove native was honored posthumously by the United States Wheelchair Rugby Association (USWRA) during its national championships. Phyllis Duncan Palma, who died on Sept. 19, 2019, at the age of 46, was inducted into the USWRA’s Hall of Fame during the competition, which ran from Thursday, March 31 through Sunday, April 3.

Palma devoted herself to following her dreams
Palma graduated from Ash Grove High School in 1991 and, according to her biography, moved to Charleston, S.C., where she managed a restaurant. Later, she moved to Atlanta, Ga., where she pursued a career in physical therapy; she graduated from Kennesaw State University with a degree as an exercise specialist in 2000. She continued her education by earning a physical therapy assistant degree from Gwinnett Technical in 2003, a master’s in physical therapy from Georgia State University in 2007 and a doctorate in physical therapy from Alabama State University in 2009.

Influence in wheelchair rugby was international
Palma had a major influence on the sport, according to information provided by the USWRA. She began volunteering with the Shepherd Smash Wheelchair Rugby Tournament in 2004 and continued as a member of its support staff until 2013. During this time, she became a classifier (a person who evaluates athletes for competition) and eventually became a United States Quad Rugby Association (USQRA) Level Four classifier, the highest possible level of classifier certification, and went on to serve as an international classifier in Canada, Denmark, South Korea and Australia.
Additionally, Palma was instrumental in helping to revise the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation’s (IWRF) classification rules and also had a role in training classifiers in countries who were in the process of developing their own wheelchair rugby teams classification programs.

Palma remembered for helping others, humility
Bill Duncan, Palma’s brother, said his sister lived an amazing life while helping others.
“She wasn't here near as long as any of us would have liked, but she sure enjoyed the time that she had,” he said. “She had humble beginnings in small town Missouri, but through hard work and a strong will to succeed, she was able to travel around this country and around the world living her dreams. Wheelchair Rugby was her passion, and she was able to help people while doing what she loved. I was told by athletes and coaches while I was in Rockford that she was instrumental in leveling the playing field for the athletes by providing opportunities for older athletes, females, and more severely disabled athletes to participate.”

Personality well suited to sport
Amy Bohn, who worked with Palma in the Shepherd Smash tournament, said that Palma’s personality made her well suited to work as a classifier in wheelchair rugby.
“Phyllis loved giving back and sharing her knowledge to help others,” she said. “Wheelchair rugby was one way she could do this. The sport allowed use of her clinical expertise along with helping others and to build the sport.”
Bohn also said Palma’s caring spirit was not only limited her work in the sport.
“I had broken my leg in Boston and made it back to my place in Atlanta,” she said. “Phyllis and I had spoken several times and she helped coordinate a few things for me. The first night I was back, I had a knock at the door, she had food, drinks, and a few items to help me out around the house. Phyllis set up a few things and visited with me. She always just knew when you needed her to show up and help out.”
Anne Hart, another of Palma’s colleagues in wheelchair rugby, described Palma as a standout in the work she did.
“I knew right away she was something special,” Hart said, “in the skillful way she did the nuts and bolts of classifying, her thought process and reasoning especially, in the way she communicated with athletes to make a stressful situation one of a team effort, and in the way she shared and taught what she knew to others. She was a real go-getter and recruited many health professionals into classification. She progressed quickly in the certification levels and later pursued the same pathway in the international version of the sport. She was hugely popular with classifiers and athletes all around the world for all the work she did, her kindness, her patience, and her knowledge.”

Palma humble, kind
Hart also said that despite the influence she had in the international wheelchair rugby community, Palma was never one to boast about her accomplishments.
“Phyllis was such a special person, but she would never admit anything like that,” Hart said. “She never bragged about her accomplishments. She was humble and kind and one of the hardest workers I have ever met. Although she moved away from her hometown, as many of us do, she was grateful for growing up there and for all the support she received to be able to achieve all she was doing in her life. I was able to attend her memorial service in Ash Grove and spend time with her family. Even they didn’t know all she had done. That was so Phyllis.”