Former Chicago Christian Standout Schaaf Cherishes Her Olympic Moment

Barbara June Schaaf’s accomplishments as an athlete seem almost endless.

The 1983 Chicago Christian graduate, who now lives in Frankfort, was a four-year, three-sport standout for the Knights. She was a member of Chicago Christian’s Class A state champion basketball team in 1981 and was the school’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1983.

Schaaf went on to become a two-time NCAA All-American basketball player and one-time All-American softball player at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights.

Despite all her achievements through the years, being an Olympian never crossed her mind growing up.

“I never dreamed of it until it was right there in front of me,” said Schaaf, who represented the United States in team handball at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. “I never even heard of team handball before.”

Schaaf was introduced to the sport by a friend of a friend who played team handball in the 1970s and ran a tryout clinic.

“They were looking for my type of athlete, a lefty, someone fast, so I went to a tryout and made an Olympic Sports Festival Team, which was like a stepping stone to the national team,” Schaaf said. “Being able to run, jump, throw and catch well worked out for me. From there, I was asked to try out for the national team and made it. In a matter of about six months, I made the Olympic team. It all happened so fast.”

Olympic team handball is nothing like the game people play in the United States.

Team handball is a sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outfielders and a goalkeeper) pass a ball to throw it into a goal of the other team. The game is fast-paced with goals scored frequently and it includes body contact as defenders try to stop attackers from approaching the goal.

The playing field is similar to an indoor soccer field.

“I love the sport,” said Schaaf, who describes the game like a combination of basketball, water polo on land and soccer without kicking. “It’s a physical, fast game with a lot of scoring. You average 20-something goals a game. Everything about the game is exciting and fun. I had to learn the technical parts of the game, which took a long time, especially if you wanted to compete against the Europeans.”

Schaaf was an alternate on the 1988 U.S. team and made the 1992 squad.

“I’ll never forget the opening ceremonies,” Schaaf said. “Walking into the stadium and representing the country was definitely the highlight. We trained six days a week, twice a day, to get ready but that experience made all the injuries, soreness and giving up your life to train, all worth it.”

The United States beat Canada to win the Gold medal at the Pan Am Games and to secure a spot in the Olympics.

The U.S. then placed sixth out of eight teams in Barcelona. The U.S. never has medaled in team handball with its best finish coming in 1984 when it took fourth.

“The whole experience was amazing,” Schaaf said. “Meeting other athletes was great. It was the first year of the 'Dream Team' (with players such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird). That was pretty crazy. I remember being in the training room talking with Jennifer Capriati when she was 16 and no one knew her. Then, she won Gold and took off from there. We roomed near the swimmers and divers and baseball players. The Olympic Village was really something.

“We were an obscure sport, but we had armed guards on our bus and surrounding our bus on motorcycles and cars. They had to protect every athlete because of the (massacre) during the ’72 Munich Games. Security was unreal.”

The months leading up to the Olympics were special as well.

“Handball is not played in the United States, so we had to go to Europe or European teams would come to us,” Schaaf said. “I got to see a lot of countries and experience some unbelievable places. We were in Berlin, Germany, two weeks after the Wall came down. We got to take a piece of the Wall, which I still have. Two weeks prior to that, we would’ve been shot to death for being there. I’ll never forget that experience.”

These days, the 46-year-old Schaaf works for the family business, Schaaf Window Company.

She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 13 years ago, but still coaches and plays softball. She doesn’t play handball anymore, however.

“It’s too demanding of a sport if you don’t keep up, and I’m too old,” Schaaf said with a laugh. “There’s really no place to play it.”

Knight Coach Remembers Star Pupil

One person not surprised by Schaaf’s success is Debbie Ribbens, who was the head coach at Chicago Christian when it captured its first and only girls state basketball championship in 1981.

Schaaf was a four-year starting point guard, including the championship season when she was a sophomore.

“I can’t say enough good things about her, not only as an athlete, but as a person,” said Ribbens, who lives in Tinley Park. “She’s just quality all the way around. She started for us at point guard as a freshman, and she was a team leader. She was a fabulous athlete, and the fact she went off to play team handball in the Olympics is a credit to her unbelievable athletic ability.”

Schaaf was a state tournament second-team selection in 1981 and finished her basketball career ranked sixth all-time in scoring. She was a four-time All-Private School League selection.

Schaaf also was a four-time All-PSL softball player for the Knights and standout volleyball player. She was one of 10 athletes inducted into the school’s inaugural Wall of Honor Feb. 5 at Chicago Christian.

“That was quite an honor and a surprise,” Schaaf said. “I had no idea they were doing that for the first time. I was honored to go in with the other athletes and be part of the first class of inductees. I was inducted with my friend and basketball teammate, Deb Noort Lindemulder. Playing three sports was not as big a deal as it is now. I was always playing something. I played what my friends were playing. I couldn’t imagine not playing all seasons.”

We’re No. 1

Chicago Christian was the first private school to win a girls basketball championship.

The Knights beat Quincy Notre Dame 44-36 in the final to finish with a 32-2 record.

“Freshman year, prior to winning state, we were undefeated going into regionals and got upset,” Schaaf said. “We pretty much all returned the next year, so we knew going in that we had a really good team. We knew we had something special. Prior to high school, a teacher from grade school, Mr. Martinez, was our basketball coach at Southwest Christian School and kind of made a prediction that when all these girls got into high school together they would win state. He was right.

"We were so well balanced. We had height with three big girls and we just had it all. It was so special. We were all friends and hung out together and were just a really close-knit group.

“Basketball was definitely special. When I started as a freshman, it was the first time (the state) went to two classes. It was our first opportunity to do something in the state. By my second year, we won the state championship and nothing can top that in high school. It was amazing.”

Noort Lindemulder was the leading scorer on the championship team and earned second-team All-America honors and first-team all-state honors. She is currently an assistant volleyball coach at Chicago Christian and is the girls basketball program’s all-time leading scorer (1,452 points).

Ribbens’ husband, Dave, was her assistant coach on the championship team and then was the head coach at Trinity Christian College where he coached Schaaf.

Debbie Ribbens took time off from coaching to raise and watch her children play sports. She is now a teacher at the University of Chicago Laboratory School where she also is the head coach of the track and cross country teams.

She has fond memories of her Chicago Christian days and championship season as well.

“That was my second year out of college,” Ribbens said. “I was young and naive and thought, of course, we’re going to win it all. We had all this talent, and I was competitive and wanted to win. Of course, the players were all naive about how good they thought they were, but we won it. Downstate, all we heard about was ‘Were we recruiting players?’ I was like, ‘What’s recruiting?’ All these kids were playing together since kindergarten. We were a family and were a huge part of each other’s lives. I still see players from that team from time to time, and it’s always nice.”

All in the Family

Schaaf comes from a family of athletes.

Her father, George, is a member of the Chicago 16-inch softball Hall of Fame, while her brother, Bob, the youngest of five siblings, spent time in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization after enjoying stellar athletic careers at Chicago Christian and Trinity Christian College.

Bob Schaaf also was chosen for Chicago Christian’s inaugural Wall of Honor and also was part of Trinity Christian College’s inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2007, along with Barbara Schaaf and Dave Ribbens. Deb Noort Lindemulder was inducted in 2008.

“We all played sports with each other, especially my younger brother Bob," Schaaf said. "We played basketball all the time. My dad taught me everything I know about sports, especially softball.”

While at Trinity, Schaaf averaged 15.3 points and twice earned NCAA All-America honors. She also received All-America recognition in softball and ended her career as Trinity’s all-time leader in career batting average (.482) and single-season batting average (.516). She later returned to the school to coach the women’s basketball team for four seasons and the softball team for three seasons.

Schaaf transferred to Trinity from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, where she set a record that never will be broken. As a center fielder and catcher, Schaaf never committed an error in two seasons.

“That’s something I’m proud of,” she said. “I wish I could go back and play like I used to back then.”