160:, but was rejected after the general manager of the Roller Derby watched him struggle to fill out the application with a magnifying glass. Instead, he Skobel joined the roller derby working as a locker attendant, earning 50 cents per day. He worked in the center of the banked-track ring, memorizing the styles and outlines of the skaters. When he heard that the derby was holding tryouts in Chattanooga in January 1946, he traveled there by bus and was able to keep his low vision a secret during trials. He signed with the Brooklyn Red Devils in 1946, keeping his disability a secret for the first five years he played. Skobel would listen for the sound of an opponent's skates coming up behind him, and if a skater was close he could see whether they were wearing stripes or certain colors.
184:, who helped him get a skiing instruction program started for blind children and adults. In 1971 Skobel founded the American Blind Skiing Foundation, along with his wife and three other Mount Prospect residents. The organization gives blind and visually impaired skiers an opportunity to ski, providing safety training and ski guides.
203:. He ran the restaurant from 1965 to 1989, when he sold it to a former employee, James Kobler Jr. He also traveled as a motivational speaker, giving talks on "Creating a Positive Attitude for Life." In 1982, Skobel collaborated with freelance writer Joyce Buck McDonald to write his autobiography, titled
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In 1949, Skobel became the youngest team captain in the history of the sport. Skobel was traded to the
Chicago Westerners in 1953, where he skated for twelve seasons. He skated for the IRDL Midwest Pioneers from 1964 to 1966. He had several nicknames throughout his career, including "Slammin'" Sammy
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Skobel was voted the league's Most
Valuable Player of the year three times during his skating career, and was on eighteen all-star teams. He was one of the first seven people added to the original Roller Derby Hall of Fame when he was inducted in 1953. In 1958 Skobel set a world record fastest mile
145:. Skobel was active in several sports as a teenager, including pole vaulting, high jumping, and baseball. A track star in high school, he ran a 4:22 mile and was offered full scholarships to three universities, but those offers were rescinded when the schools learned he was legally blind.
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at age four left him legally blind, with less than ten percent of his vision remaining. At five years old, he build a shoeshine box out of wooden crates from his family's store on
Maxwell Street, which he used to shine the shoes of police officers for 2 cents.
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Skobel accompanied his son Steve on a ski trip to Aspen, where he learned about the Blind
Outdoor Leadership Development program offering instruction in Alpine and cross-country skiing. He brought the idea to his local
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He had a hard time finding and maintaining a job after graduating from high school; he was denied a job in an electronics factory and got fired from a job repairing innertubes after just a few hours.
207:. The jacket described the book as the "story of a determined young blind man from his boyhood in Chicago's Maxwell Street to a professional athletic career, setting a world speed skating record."
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in 1953. Skobel also held the world record for the fastest mile skated on a banked track. After his retirement from skating, Skobel co-founded the
American Blind Skiing Foundation.
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By the end of his career, he was paid $ 80,000 each season. He skated his last game in May 1966, but would later serve as a consulting coach for the San
Francisco Bay Bombers.
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352:"Seeing Sammy's way : Sammy Skobel never let blindness stop him from skiing, golfing, biking ... or skating for 20 years in the Roller Derby"
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before she was well-known. Skobel married his wife
Acrivie ("Vee") in 1952; they had two sons together, Sam Jr. and Stephen.
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skater. Legally blind, he was a derby star who was voted most valuable player in the league three times and inducted to the
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After retiring from the roller derby, he opened Sammy Skobel's Hot Dogs Plus in downtown
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Samuel Skobel was born April 26, 1926, the son of
Russian immigrants. He was born on
629:"'A legend of Mount Prospect': Blind roller derby champion Sammy Skobel dies at 92"
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in
Chicago, where his parents owned a grocery, meat market, and catering business.
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in his late 80s. He died at age 92 in his home in Mount
Prospect on June 9, 2018.
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During his time in New York, Skobel met many celebrities and dated
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on a banked track, skating the mile in 2 minutes and 36 seconds.
110:(April 26, 1926 – June 9, 2018) was an American
455:"A Legally Blind Track Star Recalls Joy on Roller Skates"
267:. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia. pp. 113–114.
690:"Blind Skiers Happy When Their Lives Are Going Downhill"
599:"From Roller Derby To Skiing: Skobel Will Be Remembered"
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In 1945, Skobel tried out for the roller derby at the
571:. Hagerstown, Maryland. March 22, 1977. p. 14
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656:"For Skobel, guests came rolling in"
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418:"Turning the sightless on to skiing"
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261:Eshel, Shuli; Schatz, Roger (2004).
235:Houston, Jack (September 25, 1992).
597:Fleischer, Denise (June 12, 2018).
565:"Blind skiers rely on team feeling"
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755:Crane High School (Chicago) alumni
688:Herrick, Lynn (February 5, 1991).
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654:Brooks, Chad (December 8, 1999).
308:"Sammy Skobel: 1953 HOF Inductee"
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479:Ivry, Benjamin (July 22, 2019).
453:Block, David (August 21, 2005).
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662:. Arlington Heights, Illinois.
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627:Koop, Chacour (June 11, 2018).
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513:. Arlington Heights, Illinois.
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358:. Arlington Heights, Illinois.
306:Powers, Gary (April 26, 2021).
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635:. Arlington Heights, Illinois
505:Murphy, Jean (May 24, 1998).
264:Jewish Maxwell Street stories
237:"Teeing Off Against the Odds"
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164:Skobel and "Gunner" Skobel.
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188:Personal life and later life
16:American roller derby skater
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314:. Roller Derby Hall of Fame
143:Crane Technical High School
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350:Carr, Amy (May 13, 1999).
210:Skobel was diagnosed with
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540:"Events & Inductees"
201:Mount Prospect, Illinois
730:American roller skaters
605:. Des Plaines, Illinois
735:American blind people
569:Hagerstown Daily Mail
108:Samuel "Sammy" Skobel
93:IRDL Midwest Pioneers
740:Roller derby skaters
603:Journal & Topics
29:Personal information
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62:(2018-06-09)
60:June 9, 2018
23:Sammy Skobel
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725:2018 deaths
720:1926 births
485:The Forward
34:Nationality
714:Categories
218:References
182:Lions Club
122:Early life
98:Turned pro
48:1926-04-26
699:April 30,
673:April 30,
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664:ProQuest
515:ProQuest
360:ProQuest
312:Facebook
37:American
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175:Skiing
205:Semka
74:Sport
69:Sport
701:2022
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426:ISSN
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269:ISBN
248:2022
101:1946
84:Team
57:Died
42:Born
422:Ski
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.