Chase knew from an early age that his future was in sports. 

“Since the day I came out of the womb, I had a football in my hand,” he joked. Chase’s active childhood was filled with practices and tournaments for jiu-jitsu, wrestling, baseball, and football, or riding bikes and playing games with his neighborhood friends.  

That all changed three days after his eleventh birthday, when Chase received the news while away at summer camp that his father had been in an accident at work and passed away. 

“My world was flipped upside down,” Chase said. “There was a huge transition period of figuring out how to get back to my day-to-day life while dealing with this.” 

After the accident, Chase found comfort and stability in his “Superwoman” mother, Marcia. “She made sure I was taken care of every day — working with my coaches to get me to practice and ensuring I was at the places I needed to be to keep that normalcy.” 

But behind the scenes, Marcia struggled with her family’s new financial reality. After experiencing unemployment and difficulty obtaining her husband’s full pension upon his death, she became deeply concerned about providing for her son — a concern that unfortunately remained consistent throughout Chase’s middle school and high school years.  

When it came time for Chase to attend Ball State University in Indiana, Marcia and Chase both knew that there was enough money in Chase’s education fund to cover his first year of college. But, what then? “I was considering working weekends,” Marcia admitted, “and doing whatever I needed to do to make sure he could graduate.” 

A new path forward emerged when she heard from the Fallen Linemen Foundation — a national organization that supports families of fallen electrical workers — which introduced her to Kids’ Chance. Through Kids’ Chance of Indiana (KCIN), Chase was able to receive a “life-changing” scholarship within weeks of applying. 

For Chase, the Kids’ Chance scholarship became just as much of an emotional relief as it was a financial one for him and his family. “Knowing that my mom didn't have to worry anymore, that was huge. I could go through my day and know that she isn't stressing anymore, and that things were taken care of. It just propelled me all the way through my four years at Ball State.”

With a degree in sports administration, Chase’s dream eventually became a reality: he now works at the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). 

“My dream career was always to work in sports. Kids' Chance allowed me to pursue that dream,” Chase said. “It is an amazing organization that has drastically changed my life.”

Now he and Marcia do all they can to educate others about Kids’ Chance and its mission to provide scholarships to the children of parents who’ve been injured on the job. 

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