08/01/2026
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The Oscar Chaplin, III Foundation for Education & Athletics 2026-2027 Level-Up Awards are open!
To access the application: https://forms.gle/qyR3zzGgmpDNq4Nq6
If you ever saw Oscar a.k.a. Diamond at a competition, you were quite likely to see his (our) father, Big “O,” not too far behind. Big O provided spiritual, mental, and physical support to Diamond and anyone else at the competition…or in close, or not-so-close, proximity, especially if they were feeling pain.
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The snippet above is a late-career perspective of what one may have seen if they were present when the April 28th, 2002 (Section 8, Page 3) New York Times article, “WEIGHTLIFTING; Chaplin at Top of His Class, Starting Where His Competitors Leave Off” was written by Lynn Zinser. The opening paragraphs give a glimpse…
“Oscar Chaplin III dropped the weight he had just lifted yesterday with a look of disdain on his face. Offstage at the Manhattan Center, his father, Oscar Chaplin Jr., muttered to himself nervously. The voice of his mother, Rebecca, sliced through the crowd, by far the loudest of all. His brother, Jim, sat clapping nearby, his own national weight-lifting championship won a day earlier, and celebrated with a back flip.
The success of Oscar III is a product of one of the premier weight-lifting families around. The only one missing was his sister, Sue Ann, who started the whole thing when she was recruited by a weight-lifting coach about 14 years ago. Then Dad started lifting. Oscar got involved, followed by Jim and eventually Mom. ”I just wanted to join the group,” Rebecca Chaplin said.
What it has come to is this: Oscar III won the United States championship at 85 kilograms yesterday by such a huge margin that he did not even start lifting until the rest of his weight class had finished. His starting weight in the sn**ch, 341 pounds, was 44 pounds heavier than any other competitor attempted. The margin was similar for the clean and jerk. He lifted 407 pounds in the clean and jerk and 357.5 pounds in the sn**ch.
In each event, the 22-year-old Chaplin tried for and missed lifts that would have broken his American record. He seemed unfazed.”
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Hopefully, this provides a tiny bit of context for you of the breadth of our commitment to support the whole person as you consider your nomination or application. Faith, Family, Focus…Spirit, Mind, and Body.
What does a student, an athlete, and especially a student-athlete, need these days to be successful for getting to the next level?
Parent/Guardian travel and/or housing support, especially in the case of minor-aged athletes on travel teams?
Money for membership fees for a promising athlete in-need, who will benefit from being on a pay-to-play team?
Money for learning support materials for a star student who has fallen on tough times or whose family finances are already tight?
Funds for tutoring a student-athlete at odd hours when on competition travel?
Money for gear?
Please tell us what your needs are! These awards will provide support for Diamonds-In-The-Rough and Diamonds having a rough time so that they may level-up in their achievement.
Please be considerate in your request and do your best to keep requests below $1,000. Requests above $1,000 should be very well-justified. If you are only in need of support to cover fuel costs to a regional day competition to provide parental support, that is just as fund-able and just as important as providing support for any larger request. We anticipate being able to award approximately $5,000 total in awards for the 2026-2027 cycle and we want to be able to provide as many awards as possible. Funds that you request must be spent by 4 February 2027.
Applications can be submitted by the anticipated recipient or on behalf of the anticipated recipient. Please provide your best complete responses for the information below. Note that we need contact information for a recommender, who is not a parent, and that information will need to be submitted with your application..
Preview the questions here, beginning on page 4.
The deadline for submission of all elements (application, budget, and recommender contact information) is midnight Pacific on from February 4th, 2026.
East Coast folks, that means 03:00/3:00 a.m. on February 5th.
The Oscar Chaplin, III Foundation for Education & Athletics, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization that is supported and funded through the efforts and gifts of our Partners and Contributors. Thank you!
To access the application: https://forms.gle/qyR3zzGgmpDNq4Nq6
Reach Us
If you would like to be connected to hear more about the effort and/or get involved, please let the Chaplin family know by expressing your interest via Email at TheOC3Foundation@gmail.com
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