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Basketball tourney for the deaf is a game apart | greenvilleonline.com | The Greenville News
In the hallway, a lone basketball is heard bouncing.
Looking around the corner, you expect to see a single person. Instead, it’s a whole team, silently doing a layup drill.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, swish. Bounce, bounce, bounce, swish.
The stands are half-full, yet no one is talking, especially the players. They warm up silently, dribbling, passing, shooting.
In any other high school gym in America, it might seem odd: no shouts of encouragement, no fan chatter. Just silence punctuated by the drumming of the ball on the floor.
But this is the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind in Spartanburg. And this is no average basketball game. It’s opening day for the largest high school basketball tournament for deaf students in the country.
The 59th annual Mason Dixon Boys Basketball Tournament took place at SCSDB on Jan. 27-29 as 11 teams from 10 Southeastern states – North Carolina has two deaf high schools – vied for hoops supremacy.
But the tournament is more than an athletic endeavor. It’s a reunion that can’t be fully understood by those from outside the deaf community.
Kim Speer, athletic director at SCSDB, has been at the school for 27 years. She is constantly amazed by the giving nature of everyone she meets.
The ice and snowstorm that plagued the Upstate last month hampered planning for the tournament and put travel plans up in the air. By the time teams were arriving, Speer had to warn the visitors.
“I told them, you’ll be on a bed, or a mattress on the floor or on a Red Cross cot,” she said, “but we’ll have someplace for you to sleep.
“I didn’t hear one complaint from one school. They are happy to help and they are there to make it right for these kids.”
Noel Haynes brought his team from the Louisiana School for the Deaf a long way. Any hardships were quickly forgotten.
“This is the biggest tournament and you’ll see blood and guts and players sliding on the floor,” he said. “The players will see players, cheerleaders, friends and coaches they haven’t seen in a year.
“This is the Super Bowl of deaf basketball.”
Speer pointed out the type of camaraderie that exists simply with travel plans.
“Louisiana came up here on the same bus with Mississippi,” she said. “And the girls’ tournament is going on in Georgia right now, and N.C. and S.C. rode down there together.”
Speer said hosting the huge event is both a burden and a blessing.
“We’re housing them, we’re feeding them, and then you’re having socials at night,” she said. “The entire tournament is broadcast on the Internet.
“It is so special. I don’t love all the work, but once it gets started, it’s fun.”
Player perspective
For five years, Matthew Wright played in the Mason Dixon. What he wouldn’t give for one more time on the basketball floor.
But since the Gray Court resident is now 20 years old, he is officially too old to play high school basketball. Instead, he volunteers his time as a team manager and chief encourager. Through Wendy Lufkin, the SCSDB cheerleading coach and an interpreter at the school, Wright detailed what makes the Mason Dixon special.
“We challenge each other in the games,” Wright signed in rapid-fire motion. “But then, we have all our friends here to see again.
“I played in five tournaments, but now I’m teaching, helping the younger kids who are coming up to varsity.”
Playing against other deaf teams levels the competition, Wright said, compared with when they play public high schools.
“The regular games are more difficult,” he said, “although we use special signs in games against hearing teams. We have a secret code.
“We can’t do that here. We like the experience, the challenge of the other deaf teams.”
From the sidelines, Speer said, she’s noticed that hearing teams will call out plays, and coaches will shout instructions knowing the deaf players can’t hear and react.
“We’re at a real disadvantage when we play them,” she said.
Star-Spangled Banner
Just before Tennessee and Georgia teams face off in a Thursday afternoon game, two Tennessee cheerleaders stand at mid-court to sign the National Anthem. Beneath the flag hung high on the wall, their cheer coach signs as well.
It’s clear the high-schoolers are still learning the words; they hesitate and haltingly follow her lead. But the coach signs and sways, motioning so fluidly that the music needn’t be heard.
Her performance is a beautiful rendition, bringing the song to life as well as any operatic version could.
As the teams tip off, you wonder about the referees. Basketball’s action is non-stop, except when the men in stripes blow their whistles to indicate a foul or infraction.
Speer, a Fountain Inn native, said tourney referees have worked deaf games before. But when the first whistle blows to stop action, the players don’t stop and continue to charge down the court.
“They have to try and get the players’ attention,” Speer said, by waving their hands, or motioning. “It all works out with a little understanding.”
A little understanding is what Joni Canter provides, along with medical help. Canter is the first and only athletic trainer at SCSDB. She came to the school in 2005 as part of an outreach program with the Steadman-Hawkins Clinics of the Carolinas. Her professional role is to provide injury help and therapy, but it’s something much more in reality.
“This is a job and a service,” she said. “I initially turned down this job. I’m from Wisconsin and I didn’t want to travel 1,300 miles to a place where I didn’t know anyone. Everything was out of my comfort zone.”
The more she thought about it, the more appealing the position became.
“It’s completely different here,” she said. “Most of the students are residents, so I have to see them, make their doctors’ appointments, get them out of class, take them, bring them back.
“It’s a different, personal level. I wouldn’t change it.”
Dr. Richard Hawkins donates his time and energy to the school as well. He lives nearby and came upon the school since it’s in his neighborhood.
At the welcoming banquet on the eve of the tournament, the orthopedic surgeon gave the keynote address.
“I gave them some general encouragement and told them about the role of sports in society,” Hawkins said. “Then I told them I was the team doctor for the (Denver) Broncos and the (Colorado) Rockies, and I have two Super Bowl rings.
“But this is my team now.”
In the hallway, a lone basketball is heard bouncing.
Looking around the corner, you expect to see a single person. Instead, it’s a whole team, silently doing a layup drill.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, swish. Bounce, bounce, bounce, swish.
The stands are half-full, yet no one is talking, especially the players. They warm up silently, dribbling, passing, shooting.
In any other high school gym in America, it might seem odd: no shouts of encouragement, no fan chatter. Just silence punctuated by the drumming of the ball on the floor.
But this is the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind in Spartanburg. And this is no average basketball game. It’s opening day for the largest high school basketball tournament for deaf students in the country.
The 59th annual Mason Dixon Boys Basketball Tournament took place at SCSDB on Jan. 27-29 as 11 teams from 10 Southeastern states – North Carolina has two deaf high schools – vied for hoops supremacy.
But the tournament is more than an athletic endeavor. It’s a reunion that can’t be fully understood by those from outside the deaf community.
Kim Speer, athletic director at SCSDB, has been at the school for 27 years. She is constantly amazed by the giving nature of everyone she meets.
The ice and snowstorm that plagued the Upstate last month hampered planning for the tournament and put travel plans up in the air. By the time teams were arriving, Speer had to warn the visitors.
“I told them, you’ll be on a bed, or a mattress on the floor or on a Red Cross cot,” she said, “but we’ll have someplace for you to sleep.
“I didn’t hear one complaint from one school. They are happy to help and they are there to make it right for these kids.”
Noel Haynes brought his team from the Louisiana School for the Deaf a long way. Any hardships were quickly forgotten.
“This is the biggest tournament and you’ll see blood and guts and players sliding on the floor,” he said. “The players will see players, cheerleaders, friends and coaches they haven’t seen in a year.
“This is the Super Bowl of deaf basketball.”
Speer pointed out the type of camaraderie that exists simply with travel plans.
“Louisiana came up here on the same bus with Mississippi,” she said. “And the girls’ tournament is going on in Georgia right now, and N.C. and S.C. rode down there together.”
Speer said hosting the huge event is both a burden and a blessing.
“We’re housing them, we’re feeding them, and then you’re having socials at night,” she said. “The entire tournament is broadcast on the Internet.
“It is so special. I don’t love all the work, but once it gets started, it’s fun.”
Player perspective
For five years, Matthew Wright played in the Mason Dixon. What he wouldn’t give for one more time on the basketball floor.
But since the Gray Court resident is now 20 years old, he is officially too old to play high school basketball. Instead, he volunteers his time as a team manager and chief encourager. Through Wendy Lufkin, the SCSDB cheerleading coach and an interpreter at the school, Wright detailed what makes the Mason Dixon special.
“We challenge each other in the games,” Wright signed in rapid-fire motion. “But then, we have all our friends here to see again.
“I played in five tournaments, but now I’m teaching, helping the younger kids who are coming up to varsity.”
Playing against other deaf teams levels the competition, Wright said, compared with when they play public high schools.
“The regular games are more difficult,” he said, “although we use special signs in games against hearing teams. We have a secret code.
“We can’t do that here. We like the experience, the challenge of the other deaf teams.”
From the sidelines, Speer said, she’s noticed that hearing teams will call out plays, and coaches will shout instructions knowing the deaf players can’t hear and react.
“We’re at a real disadvantage when we play them,” she said.
Star-Spangled Banner
Just before Tennessee and Georgia teams face off in a Thursday afternoon game, two Tennessee cheerleaders stand at mid-court to sign the National Anthem. Beneath the flag hung high on the wall, their cheer coach signs as well.
It’s clear the high-schoolers are still learning the words; they hesitate and haltingly follow her lead. But the coach signs and sways, motioning so fluidly that the music needn’t be heard.
Her performance is a beautiful rendition, bringing the song to life as well as any operatic version could.
As the teams tip off, you wonder about the referees. Basketball’s action is non-stop, except when the men in stripes blow their whistles to indicate a foul or infraction.
Speer, a Fountain Inn native, said tourney referees have worked deaf games before. But when the first whistle blows to stop action, the players don’t stop and continue to charge down the court.
“They have to try and get the players’ attention,” Speer said, by waving their hands, or motioning. “It all works out with a little understanding.”
A little understanding is what Joni Canter provides, along with medical help. Canter is the first and only athletic trainer at SCSDB. She came to the school in 2005 as part of an outreach program with the Steadman-Hawkins Clinics of the Carolinas. Her professional role is to provide injury help and therapy, but it’s something much more in reality.
“This is a job and a service,” she said. “I initially turned down this job. I’m from Wisconsin and I didn’t want to travel 1,300 miles to a place where I didn’t know anyone. Everything was out of my comfort zone.”
The more she thought about it, the more appealing the position became.
“It’s completely different here,” she said. “Most of the students are residents, so I have to see them, make their doctors’ appointments, get them out of class, take them, bring them back.
“It’s a different, personal level. I wouldn’t change it.”
Dr. Richard Hawkins donates his time and energy to the school as well. He lives nearby and came upon the school since it’s in his neighborhood.
At the welcoming banquet on the eve of the tournament, the orthopedic surgeon gave the keynote address.
“I gave them some general encouragement and told them about the role of sports in society,” Hawkins said. “Then I told them I was the team doctor for the (Denver) Broncos and the (Colorado) Rockies, and I have two Super Bowl rings.
“But this is my team now.”