Taylor Chace (born May 9, 1986) is an American

ice sledge hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitat ...

player. Chace is one of three children of Ric and Lisa Chace. He began playing

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

at age 5, and by age 16 was playing for the

New Hampshire Junior Monarchs The New Hampshire Junior Monarchs were a junior and youth ice hockey organization from Hooksett, New Hampshire, with teams in the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL). Its highest level junior team played in the USPHL's National Collegiat ...

. During an October 2002 game, he was checked back-first into the boards. The impact broke the

L1 vertebra The lumbar vertebrae are located between the thoracic vertebrae and pelvis. They form the lower part of the back in humans, and the tail end of the back in quadrupeds. In humans, there are five lumbar vertebrae. The term is used to describe th ...

in his lower back, resulting in an incomplete

spinal cord injury A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. It is a destructive neurological and pathological state that causes major motor, sensory and autonomic dysfunctions. Symptoms of ...

and partial paralysis of his legs. Chace was introduced to the sport of sled hockey through Northeast Passage, a program affiliated with the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

, where his older sister was attending college. He was named to the U.S. national team in late 2005 and participated in the

2006 Winter Paralympics The 2006 Winter Paralympic Games (), the ninth Paralympic Winter Games, took place in Turin, Italy, from 10 to 19 March 2006. These were the first Winter Paralympic Games to be held in Italy. They were also the first Paralympics to use the n ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, where the team took a bronze medal. He helped win another bronze at the 2008 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships, and at the 2009 World Championships he assisted in the gold medal-winning goal in a match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. In 2010, he helped his team capture the gold medal in the Vancouver, BC

Paralympic Winter Games The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The ...

. He won a second gold medal in the

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Early life

Chace attended

Cardigan Mountain School Cardigan Mountain School, also called Cardigan or CMS, for short, is an all-boys independent boarding school for grades six through nine, located on 62 Alumni Drive, Canaan, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded in 1945 on land provided b ...

and graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2011, majoring in Sports Studies. He is currently employed at Northeast Passage where he performs strength and conditioning coaching for competitive athletes with disabilities, coaches sled hockey and speaks to groups promoting awareness of recreation and competitive opportunities for youth and adult athletes with disabilities. He is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

References

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chace, Taylor 1986 births Living people American sledge hockey players Paralympic sledge hockey players for the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Ice sledge hockey players at the 2006 Winter Paralympics Ice sledge hockey players at the 2010 Winter Paralympics Ice sledge hockey players at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Sportspeople from Portsmouth, New Hampshire University of New Hampshire alumni Paralympic medalists in sledge hockey