Ed Owen
SPORT HIGHLIGHTS: Ed Owen achieved legendary status in
sport of wheelchair basketball. His expertise in wheelchair basketball
spanned nearly 50 years as an athlete and coach, and author of Playing and
Coaching Wheelchair Basketball (University of Illinois Press), known as the
definitive resource for coaching wheelchair basketball. Owen had completed
the long awaited second edition of his book and was compiling photos for it
at the time of his passing.
Owen attended the University of Illinois at Champaign–Urbana
where he earned a B.S. degree in Physical Education and completed three
years of graduate–level coursework. Owen was inducted into the National
Wheelchair Basketball Association Hall of Fame (NWBA), and
He received the
International Wheelchair Basketball Federation’s Gold Medal Triad Award for
his work worldwide — the first–ever awarded to a U.S. citizen. As a
seven–time Paralympic athlete, Owen won numerous gold medals in wheelchair
basketball, as well as medals in swimming, the pentathlon, and the discus.
He also served as head coach for the International Wheelchair Basketball
Federation’s European Zone.
RECENT WORK: Owen acted as Assistant State
Coordinator for the American Association of Adapted Sport Programs (AAASP)
school-based adapted SPORTS TM leagues in Georgia and as Area Coordinator
for Atlanta Public Schools AAASP teams until 2004.
His expertise and contributions continued to be a vital part
of AAASP’s statewide interscholastic sports operations, player recruitment,
coaching standards, player development and community education. Owen played
essential roles in developing and conducting training programs for coaches
and officials. His involvement included coaching fieldwork to enhance the
development of coaches and players during league seasons, and conducting
coach and athlete workshops and clinics throughout the year.
Owen also directed the development of AAASP’s state all–star
wheelchair basketball team, Team Holyfield, (named for its sponsor, Evander
Holyfield) now called the Georgia Eagles. Under his leadership, Team
Holyfield qualified to compete in the 2002 National Wheelchair Basketball
Association’s Junior National Tournament, becoming the first team in Georgia
to do so. Owen also coached both the Men’s and Women’s Shepherd Wheelchair
Basketball teams.
