Sunday, April 5, 2009
Deaf Basketball
By Charday Hunt
I am very passionate about sports, basketball in particular, so I decided to
do a research blog on deaf people in the basketball world. I found it
interesting that there is actually a league in the United Stated for deaf
people to play basketball. The league is called United States of America’s
Deaf Basketball. It was established in 1945 in Ohio by a small group of
people who wanted to make a place for deaf adults to be able to play
basketball. It grew over the next 50 years and become very popular. It
creates a national men’s and women’s basketball tournament that pulls in 28
(from eight different regions) teams and includes thousands of fans every
year. (USADB)
If someone is deaf or hard of hearing and they want to be able to play
basketball, it is common for them to join and all deaf or hard of hearing
team. At times it’s more beneficial for a deaf person to be on a deaf or
hard of hearing team because coaches then can communicate through sign
language. That’s both beneficial to the player and the coach because being
able to communicate and be on the same page while practicing or playing can
create a strong communication impact. Being on a deaf team can be very
beneficial for the athletes because it gives them the opportunity to meet
and engage with other deaf or hard of hearing people. It keeps them in good
shape and it helps create positive reinforcement. (Wireback, 2008)
Sports in the deaf community are specifically for two main purposes. The
first is to create a competitive atmosphere and the second to create an
opportunity for deaf people to meet, the social aspect of it. There are deaf
teams and organizations at all different levels including international,
national, regional and state teams. There are deaf athletic competitions,
deaf sport media sources, deaf celebrity athletes, deaf athletes in history
and books on the deaf of a sport. (Berke, 2007)
It can be extremely difficult for a coach to coach a deaf athlete. It can be
hard because trying to train them is rough when the communication isn’t one
hundred percent there. If the coach himself doesn’t know sign language then
he must have an interpreter. When using an interpreter it may be difficult
for the coach to be using pictures or diagrams because while the interpreter
is signing the deaf athletes will be looking at him/her not the pictures or
visual representation. The coach shouldn’t treat the deaf athlete as if
he/she is less intellectually smart than others because that’s not true. The
only thing that separates deaf athletes to hearing ones if=s the fact that
the deaf ones just don’t have the capability of hearing. It is important to
have patience because the training/coaching sessions may run slower than a
normal practice. (Deafbasketball.org)
Work Cited
www.qld.deafbasketball.org.au/_uploads/res/545_40006.doc
www.usadb.us/About_History.html
Wireback, Taft. "For region’s deaf athletes, March Madness is on."
deafnotes.com March 2008 6 Apr 2009.
Berke, Jamie. "Deaf Sports." About.com:deafness 01 DEC 2007 6 Apr 2009.