[1] Soares was born into a poor family in Portugal, and moved to Providence, Rhode Island, at the age of 11.
He used crutches until he was in high school, when he switched to a wheelchair because he says it gave him greater mobility and he said the girls liked it.
[2] Soares began playing rugby in 1969 and, as of 2005, was the only player to have participated in 13 consecutive United States National Championships.
He was a member of the U.S. wheelchair rugby team that won the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
Soares coached Germany at the 2011 Europeans Wheelchair Rugby Championships, leading them to their worst historic placing and failing to qualify for the London 2012 Paralympics.