Ian Chafee
Contributor | 1989
Hometown: Oak Lawn, Illinois
Ian Chafee’s lifelong dedication to wheelchair sports began as a labor of love at the University of Illinois. It was there that Ian met Ella Cox, a young athlete on the Illini women’s wheelchair basketball team, swim team and track & field team. They soon married and Ian began his long tenure of support for all things wheelchair sports. From 1969 to his induction, Ian volunteered countless hours to the technical and logistical support for wheelchair sports. He was the very first equipment technician who was named to a USA Wheelchair Team in international competition. Ian was also a member of the support staff for seven international competitions, including those in 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984 and 1986.
Ian was one of the unseen, unsung heroes behind the scenes who dedicated themselves to the support and assistance for the U.S.A. Teams that were travelling and competing on an international basis. His ability to handle the maintenance of racing chairs, archery equipment, etc. for the competitors made a significant difference in the performance of the teams, particularly in the early years, when standard chairs were used in competition. Ian also contributed greatly to the revolutionary introduction of the new lightweight, specialized racing wheelchairs and continued to maintain a high level of knowledge regarding the fast changing high tech changes that were taking place in competitive sports and racing wheelchairs at this time. He was the go-to person when an issue arose with wheels,hubs, spokes or any other maintenance problems.
Besides his many behind the scenes contributions, Ian was a cofounder of the Central States Wheelchair Athletic Association and served on their Board of Directors for years. He was also a certified National Wheelchair Official while serving as the regional representative for the Chicago area. In addition, Ian found time to become a Certified Physical Technologist.
