Kevin Hensley

Kevin Hensley (born May 24, 1992) is an American Paralympic soccer player. Hensley started playing soccer when he was very young, and went on to play for Tennessee Boys State Teams and varsity soccer for Collierville High School. When he was 14 years old, he had a freak stroke while playing soccer that left him with paralysis on the right side of his body. This adversely impacted his academic ability and ability to play soccer. He eventually went into coaching on the soccer side.

Despite the medical issues, new USPNT head coach Stuart Sharp invited him to play for the US Paralympic National Team in April 2014. He went on to participate in several national team training camps, friendlies and tournaments. He won bronze with the team at the 2014 America's Cup, and was the 2015 U.S. Soccer's Young Disabled Player of the Year. Hensley was with the team through 2016 Summer Paralympics qualifying events and training camps.

Personal Hensley was born on May 24, 1992, and is from Memphis, Tennessee. He went to Collierville High School in Collierville, Tennessee, and then attended Carson-Newman University. He has partial paralysis on his right side as a result of a stroke when he was 14 years old. Ensuing medical issues have also resulted in memory problems that adversely impacted his academic ability.

Despite the stroke, Hensley went through rehabilitation and played varsity soccer in high school for Collierville High School Varsity. He got All State honors in 2009 and 2010. He was offered a scholarship to play soccer for Carson-Newman University in 2011, but had a short lived playing career as a result of memory problems. The year he played for Carson-Newman, they won the South Atlantic Conference Championship. At the camp, he played in a pair of friendlies against England with his team losing both games 2-1 and 3–2. Hensley scored a goal in the second game that made the game 2 - 2 before England answered back.

Hensley was the 2015 U.S. Soccer's Young Disabled Player of the Year, winning the award the first time he was nominated. He was nominated alongside teammate Adam Ballou and US national amputee football team players Nicolai Calabria and Noah Grove. He participated in every national team training camp in 2015, and captained the squad during a number of tournaments in the year. The competition was a warmup for the World Championships that were held in England in June 2015. At the World Championships, he scored important goals that allowed the United States to qualify for the Rio Games. At that competition, he stayed on the bench in the team's 10 - 0 loss to England. It was his first World Championships as a member of the national team.

Hensley captained the 14 man squad that represented the United States at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto. They finished third in their group. Through the Wish of a Lifetime program, his grandmother who was living in an assisted living care center was able to go to Toronto to watch Hensley compete in two games. He was part of the United States Paralympic National Team that took part in the 2016 Pre Paralympic Tournament in Salou, Spain. The United States finished 6th after beating Argentina in one placement match 4 - 3 and losing to Ireland 4 - 1. The goals scored in the match against Argentina were the first the USA scored in the tournament, before putting up one more in their match against Ireland. The tournament featured 7 of the 8 teams participating in Rio. It was the last major preparation event ahead of the Rio Games for all teams participating.