Eli Wolff ’95

Partially paralyzed since suffering a stroke during surgery at age two, Eli Wolff played soccer in three Pan Am Games for the Disabled as well as the 1996 and 2004 Paralympic Games. One of the country’s most outspoken advocates for disabled athletes’ rights, Wolff directs the Inclusive Sports Initiative at the Institute for Human Centered Design in Boston and the Sport and Development Project at Brown University in Providence.

Out on the field, Wolff doesn’t see limitations, just opportunities to score. But to reach that level of competition, disabled athletes need a chance to play and learn their game. They need access to facilities and equipment; they need a chance to train and be coached; they need recognition. Traditionally, the disabled have been excluded from mainstream sports, their playing viewed as rehabilitation or socialization rather than athletic competition. That picture is changing, and Eli Wolff is wielding one of the paintbrushes.

— from “Taking His Shot,” by Barbara Matson
The Boston Globe, February 25, 2007