| Manuel "Manny" Guerra Jr. | |
| Nicknames: | Jr. |
| Birth Date: | 7 July 1967 |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Height: | 5'10 |
| Weight: | 230 |
Manuel Guerra Jr. (born July 7, 1967) is an American former ice sledge hockey player. He has won medals with Team USA at the 2002 Winter Paralympics and 2006 Winter Paralympics.[1]
His mother passed one week after he was born and contracted polio as an infant, leaving his left leg disabled. His father remarried and his step mother aided in his rehabilitation for his leg as a youth. As an adult he suffered from post polio syndrome from overuse of his healthy muscles and became depressed until at his wife’s urging tried disabled sports. Manny is divorced with four children and resides in Plymouth, Minnesota.
A love for the game of hockey since his childhood he would compete in his local area park hockey league and would wear a simple knee brace to counter the effects of instability along with a small 1” lift sole inside his left skate. He was introduced to the sport of sled hockey in 1991 by a local club in Minnesota and after playing for one season he received an invitation to attend the 1992 U.S. National Team Trials in which he was selected starting goaltender. As a member of the US Paralympic Team, which participated at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah ‐ Manny stopped Norway’s final three shots in a shootout preserving a 4‐3 victory and crowning Team USA champions of the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games and winning a Gold medal. Manny is a multi‐sport athlete and is regarded as one of the top athletes in wheelchair softball, basketball and Para Hockey (sled hockey) in the United States. He's won 5 World Series titles in wheelchair softball as a member of the St. Paul Saints 1991-2011 and Rolling Twins 2011-present.