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Dave was a coach for many different sports for 40+ years. He coached basketball, track, wrestling, baseball, and soccer.  Have you ever coached a player who was hard of hearing?    “Yes I have coached a few. I coached track at a school for the deaf and I have coached players with impairments in baseball and wrestling.”  How have you handled situations where communication barriers have been present? Mostly in matches/competitions.  “Something I’ve learned is that there is really nothing you can do. You just have to make awareness and hope that your player can overcome things.”  What are some challenges you have come across during your career?  “Having a hard of hearing player definitely changes things a little. And when training a player, it's hard to close the gap between…

Before we can start sharing stories and spreading awareness, we need to discuss the types of hearing loss.  But first, what is hearing loss? Hearing loss is when any part of the ear or auditory system is not working properly. This can be any part of the ear, outer, middle, inner, or the nerves.  There are 4 types of hearing loss:  Conductive Caused when something is stopping sounds from traveling through the outer or middle ear.   Sensorineural Caused when there is an issue in the inner ear or the hearing nerve Mixed Includes both conductive and sensorineural   Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder.  Hearing loss where sound will enter the ear normally, but damage to the inner ear and/or hearing nerve causes the sound to be organized in a way the brain…

David Smith is an American volleyball player that has played in the Olympics 3 separate times on the U.S National team. David Smith is also nearly deaf, and he wears hearing aids to communicate with his teammates. Matt Hamill is an American martial artist that formerly competed in the Olympics as a wrestler. Just like David, Matt is also deaf. He became the first deaf wrestler to win a national collegiate championship.These are just two of dozens of deaf or hearing impaired people that are great athletes.  As hearing impaired people have overcome challenges, changes have been made to the sports community. For example, in NCAA swim meets they have changed the way the start system works. Instead of the use of beeps and whistles, lights have been used instead.…