Miss-Delectable
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Ke Alakai - BYU-Hawaii Student News Lab - Chris Wood proves that there is ability in disability.
The life of BYU-Hawaii student Chris Wood, who was born deaf, has proven that there is ability in disability as he has become good in what he loves doing best, which is soccer. And now he’s part of BYUH men’s soccer term where he is showing his talents and abilities.
Wood said he started playing soccer at the age of 2. His dad, who was a soccer coach for different clubs, coached him all through middle school until he was 14 years old.
“My dad noticed that I was good at kicking the ball and good in the field, so he wanted me to play more on the field. Because my dad was goal keeper, he taught me how to be a goal keeper. But he noticed that my passion was getting the balls in the goal so he encouraged me and that was how I started playing soccer.”
Wood said his parents discovered he was deaf when he was 1 year old. His mom kept on yelling at him but there was no response. The first visits to the doctor showed he was okay and he was just being a child. But six months later, Wood’s mom took him to the doctor again as she observed him and noticed there was a problem. It was after the second visit, that he was confirmed deaf.
From that time, Wood started learning sign language. In Orange City, Calif., there was various deaf and hearing schools of which Wood attended until he was in seventh grade. Wood’s parent really wanted him to go to a regular school so he was transferred to a public mainstream school with all hearing students.
When asked if he views his inability to speak and hear as weaknesses, Wood said, “No, no, Not at all.”
He said when he was a little boy, he was very social and played with lots of friends. He said he used gestures and actions to communicate with them. Then in middle and high school, Wood taught his friends some basics of sign language to enhance their communication.
How others behaved and treated him because of being deaf has never being a problem, he said. However there were a few difficult situations - one of which Wood shared. “I remember when I was 12, I was playing soccer for a team in a AYSL plus program in Orange County, Calif. When the referee called my name and I did not response because I could not hear him, people around told him I was deaf. The referee said you are disabled you can’t play. There are special leagues for those w ho have special needs.”
The referee proceeded to tell the coach the same thing and his dad heard and was mad. His dad went up to the coach and explained that Chris was capable of playing and not just playing but playing very well. Wood was afterwards allowed to play.
Jeff Wood, Chris’s dad, said to him: “Go and play and kill the other team and prove to the referee that he is wrong.” During the course of the game, Wood said, “I kept on getting the goals so that the referee had to eat his words. I was not disabled at that. So I know that deaf people can do many things if only they are determined.”
SOCIAL LIFE
Wood enjoys traveling with his family, which includes his two brothers, Halston, 14, and Rykei, 6. He also enjoys diving, wakeboarding, playing volleyball and playing soccer. Then smiling Wood added he likes hanging out with his girlfriend, Nicole Christensen. He met Nicole at a restaurant with a couple of friends. They have being dating for more than two months now and she knows how to sign. “She is very sweet, and friendly. We have fun together and I am happy I met her,” said Wood.
MISSION
When Wood was 19 years old, he was at the peak of his soccer career playing NCAA soccer in California. Things were going good for him. But Wood kept thinking about his life and trying to decide if he wanted to go on a mission or continue his soccer career. Wood decided to pray about the issue but said he received no reply.
Then one morning while running, Wood came across a soccer field he played on though out his childhood. “The Spirit said I should put soccer on hold and go serve a mission and go teach the gospel to those people that needed the gospel,” he said. “It was there that I thought about my life. I had never felt the Sprit that strong in my life; I knew immediately that I needed to serve a mission.”
Serving in the Arizona Tucson Mission, Wood was assigned to serve in a deaf branch. The deaf community in his mission was small so Wood spent most of his missionary days knocking on doors asking people if they knew anyone that was deaf and would love to hear their message. Wood said it was through this means and member referrals in the deaf branches that they were able to get people to teach and baptized. When talking about his mission, Wood with a big smile and signed, “It is the best mission in the world. I am happy I served my mission. It changed my life.”
EDUCATION
After Wood graduated from high school, he attended California State University Northridge for one semester and then transferred to California State University Fullerton and spent two semesters there. After his mission, he applied to BYU in Provo because he heard they have a good soccer team, but he was rejected by Provo. It was then he found out that BYUH also had a good soccer team.
“Knowing about this, I just felt BYUH would be the best place to go to school and play soccer,” he said. He said his mother had a dream and saw a place where there were flags hanging high in a circle. “So when my mom saw the flags of the BYUH campus on the Internet, we knew that this was the place for me,” he said. Wood applied to BYUH, was accepted, and just a day after he got off his mission, he was able to practice for the coach here at BYUH. The coach offered him a scholarship.
“I feel good about being here. If I work hard, I feel I will be successful playing with the BYUH soccer team and that is what I hope for,” said Wood. “My goal is to play my best here at BYUH so that fans can make noise so loud that I can feel it.”
The life of BYU-Hawaii student Chris Wood, who was born deaf, has proven that there is ability in disability as he has become good in what he loves doing best, which is soccer. And now he’s part of BYUH men’s soccer term where he is showing his talents and abilities.
Wood said he started playing soccer at the age of 2. His dad, who was a soccer coach for different clubs, coached him all through middle school until he was 14 years old.
“My dad noticed that I was good at kicking the ball and good in the field, so he wanted me to play more on the field. Because my dad was goal keeper, he taught me how to be a goal keeper. But he noticed that my passion was getting the balls in the goal so he encouraged me and that was how I started playing soccer.”
Wood said his parents discovered he was deaf when he was 1 year old. His mom kept on yelling at him but there was no response. The first visits to the doctor showed he was okay and he was just being a child. But six months later, Wood’s mom took him to the doctor again as she observed him and noticed there was a problem. It was after the second visit, that he was confirmed deaf.
From that time, Wood started learning sign language. In Orange City, Calif., there was various deaf and hearing schools of which Wood attended until he was in seventh grade. Wood’s parent really wanted him to go to a regular school so he was transferred to a public mainstream school with all hearing students.
When asked if he views his inability to speak and hear as weaknesses, Wood said, “No, no, Not at all.”
He said when he was a little boy, he was very social and played with lots of friends. He said he used gestures and actions to communicate with them. Then in middle and high school, Wood taught his friends some basics of sign language to enhance their communication.
How others behaved and treated him because of being deaf has never being a problem, he said. However there were a few difficult situations - one of which Wood shared. “I remember when I was 12, I was playing soccer for a team in a AYSL plus program in Orange County, Calif. When the referee called my name and I did not response because I could not hear him, people around told him I was deaf. The referee said you are disabled you can’t play. There are special leagues for those w ho have special needs.”
The referee proceeded to tell the coach the same thing and his dad heard and was mad. His dad went up to the coach and explained that Chris was capable of playing and not just playing but playing very well. Wood was afterwards allowed to play.
Jeff Wood, Chris’s dad, said to him: “Go and play and kill the other team and prove to the referee that he is wrong.” During the course of the game, Wood said, “I kept on getting the goals so that the referee had to eat his words. I was not disabled at that. So I know that deaf people can do many things if only they are determined.”
SOCIAL LIFE
Wood enjoys traveling with his family, which includes his two brothers, Halston, 14, and Rykei, 6. He also enjoys diving, wakeboarding, playing volleyball and playing soccer. Then smiling Wood added he likes hanging out with his girlfriend, Nicole Christensen. He met Nicole at a restaurant with a couple of friends. They have being dating for more than two months now and she knows how to sign. “She is very sweet, and friendly. We have fun together and I am happy I met her,” said Wood.
MISSION
When Wood was 19 years old, he was at the peak of his soccer career playing NCAA soccer in California. Things were going good for him. But Wood kept thinking about his life and trying to decide if he wanted to go on a mission or continue his soccer career. Wood decided to pray about the issue but said he received no reply.
Then one morning while running, Wood came across a soccer field he played on though out his childhood. “The Spirit said I should put soccer on hold and go serve a mission and go teach the gospel to those people that needed the gospel,” he said. “It was there that I thought about my life. I had never felt the Sprit that strong in my life; I knew immediately that I needed to serve a mission.”
Serving in the Arizona Tucson Mission, Wood was assigned to serve in a deaf branch. The deaf community in his mission was small so Wood spent most of his missionary days knocking on doors asking people if they knew anyone that was deaf and would love to hear their message. Wood said it was through this means and member referrals in the deaf branches that they were able to get people to teach and baptized. When talking about his mission, Wood with a big smile and signed, “It is the best mission in the world. I am happy I served my mission. It changed my life.”
EDUCATION
After Wood graduated from high school, he attended California State University Northridge for one semester and then transferred to California State University Fullerton and spent two semesters there. After his mission, he applied to BYU in Provo because he heard they have a good soccer team, but he was rejected by Provo. It was then he found out that BYUH also had a good soccer team.
“Knowing about this, I just felt BYUH would be the best place to go to school and play soccer,” he said. He said his mother had a dream and saw a place where there were flags hanging high in a circle. “So when my mom saw the flags of the BYUH campus on the Internet, we knew that this was the place for me,” he said. Wood applied to BYUH, was accepted, and just a day after he got off his mission, he was able to practice for the coach here at BYUH. The coach offered him a scholarship.
“I feel good about being here. If I work hard, I feel I will be successful playing with the BYUH soccer team and that is what I hope for,” said Wood. “My goal is to play my best here at BYUH so that fans can make noise so loud that I can feel it.”