Connie Head

Connie Head competing

1997

Connie Head was a freshman photography student at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1971 when a chance encounter changed the course of her life. Introduced to wheelchair sports by Buffy Fetter, a field athlete from Illinois, Connie recalled,

“I began training for nationals with the Rochester Wheels the night she dragged me to my first practice! I was amazed! Being from Endicott, New York, I had never even heard of wheelchair sports. I changed my major to ‘Be a Gimp, See the World.’ I was ecstatic racing in a 50-pound wheelchair. We burned up the Bulova School parking lot track during the Ben Lipton era.”

That first night of practice sparked a lifelong passion and career in adaptive athletics. After college, Connie went on to play basketball and race for teams across the country, earning the affectionate nickname “Gypsy Queen of Wheelchair Sports.”

Over the span of her remarkable career, Connie amassed an estimated 50 national gold medals across track, swimming, and skiing, and approximately 45 international medals, including 30 golds. She was named to nine international teams representing Team USA and competed for nearly 25 years, often with men’s basketball teams — a testament to both her talent and tenacity.

Reflecting on her career, Connie said,

“I couldn’t have imagined at that first practice that I would be called a pioneer of women’s distance racing — that I would retire with nine National, Pan American, and World records from the meet of my life in Halifax — or that I would someday receive my sport’s highest honor.”

She continued,

“Watching inductees to the NWAA’s Hall of Fame at my first Nationals banquet, I was humbled by their stature then — and proud and grateful to be listed among them today.”

A pioneer of women’s wheelchair racing and an inspiring competitor in multiple disciplines, Connie Head blazed a trail for generations of female athletes who followed. Her combination of grit, humor, and unrelenting passion embodies the heart of the National Wheelchair Athletic Association Hall of Fame.