Miss-Delectable
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Deaf athletes inspire ingenuity, signing from teammates at Canada Games - Winnipeg Free Press
Elizabeth Dagg doesn't hear the cross-ice screams of British Columbia's ringette squad, but the deaf player finds other ways to communicate in a fast-breaking sport where an unexpected pass can clinch a game.
Coach Richard White describes the 17-year-old deaf athlete as having an almost uncanny ability to see or "sense" where the ring should go.
"There's been times there's been three people on Elizabeth. There's no way she can see anybody. She can't hear them. But for some reason she knows where to put the ring," the coach said in an interview.
"So she has a chemistry going on."
Dagg was close to being cut from the squad, but improved her game in the closing months before the provincial squad was chosen, said White.
Teammates say the defender has evolved into a player valued for her anticipation, and she's often used to pace the team's fastest skating "power line."
During attacks her passes snap crisply across the ice as forwards rush for position before the 30-second shot clock expires.
Dagg also scored once in Saturday's game against Saskatchewan as her team fell 10-5 in the preliminary round game.
A day later her team bounced back to defeat Ontario 5-4 in overtime.
Using American Sign Language, interpreted by her mother Nora Dagg, the young player says rink-wide awareness is a strength.
"I just need to be more focused and looking around. I feel like I'm like the other kids. They have to be able to look around to be able to play," she signs.
Off the ice, she's eager to inspire the inclusion of deaf athletes in elite sports.
Her goal is to eventually make a national team.
Her arms move with added excitement as she answers questions about inspiring other deaf athletes.
"It's very important to tell the parents whose kids are deaf that they can play sport," she signs. "I have a lot of friends who are deaf but they don't play sport because the parents say, 'they are deaf.'
"I think that is so wrong. I think the kids should have that chance."
She's one of several deaf athletes competing at the Canada Winter Games here.
Christopher Daeninck of Winnipeg participated in long-track speed skating Sunday, placing 13th in the 1,500 metres.
His bio states: "Although I'm deaf, I am an equal member of the team and feel that I belong."
Daeninck's mother, Monica Furer, said in a telephone interview that her son has found the mix of deaf athlete and non-deaf teammates creates ingenuity and mutual learning.
One of his teammates has learned American Sign Language.
In the team races — where the first three athletes to cross the finish line set the time —the group has substituted hand signals and body taps for words, said Furer.
"It's made all of them more creative to find ways to include Christopher. He's a valuable skater and they want to include him," she said.
In addition, their opponents' coaches don't have a clue what they're planning.
Does any of this detract from the Canadian deaf sports community, which has a national association and sports across the country and competes in the Deaflympics?
Furer argues it doesn't, even though at times her son will choose non-deaf events because the competition is tougher.
"He's hugely involved in the deaf community, but he functions well in both the non-deaf and deaf community," she said.
"I think it's great there is a deaf Olympics out there and for some sports it levels the playing field. But for some, if you want to go all the way you want to go where the best competition is ... My kid's goal is to get on the junior national team."
Non-deaf athletes would lose a source of inspiration without their deaf teammate, says Lynita White, the captain of Dagg's team.
"We use her because she's good at ringette not because of any of her abilities or so-called disability," she said.
Meanwhile, White and several other girls are picking up American Sign Language words from their linemate, ranging from "play a streak" (a fast break) through to the post-goal phrase, "I love yah."
Elizabeth Dagg doesn't hear the cross-ice screams of British Columbia's ringette squad, but the deaf player finds other ways to communicate in a fast-breaking sport where an unexpected pass can clinch a game.
Coach Richard White describes the 17-year-old deaf athlete as having an almost uncanny ability to see or "sense" where the ring should go.
"There's been times there's been three people on Elizabeth. There's no way she can see anybody. She can't hear them. But for some reason she knows where to put the ring," the coach said in an interview.
"So she has a chemistry going on."
Dagg was close to being cut from the squad, but improved her game in the closing months before the provincial squad was chosen, said White.
Teammates say the defender has evolved into a player valued for her anticipation, and she's often used to pace the team's fastest skating "power line."
During attacks her passes snap crisply across the ice as forwards rush for position before the 30-second shot clock expires.
Dagg also scored once in Saturday's game against Saskatchewan as her team fell 10-5 in the preliminary round game.
A day later her team bounced back to defeat Ontario 5-4 in overtime.
Using American Sign Language, interpreted by her mother Nora Dagg, the young player says rink-wide awareness is a strength.
"I just need to be more focused and looking around. I feel like I'm like the other kids. They have to be able to look around to be able to play," she signs.
Off the ice, she's eager to inspire the inclusion of deaf athletes in elite sports.
Her goal is to eventually make a national team.
Her arms move with added excitement as she answers questions about inspiring other deaf athletes.
"It's very important to tell the parents whose kids are deaf that they can play sport," she signs. "I have a lot of friends who are deaf but they don't play sport because the parents say, 'they are deaf.'
"I think that is so wrong. I think the kids should have that chance."
She's one of several deaf athletes competing at the Canada Winter Games here.
Christopher Daeninck of Winnipeg participated in long-track speed skating Sunday, placing 13th in the 1,500 metres.
His bio states: "Although I'm deaf, I am an equal member of the team and feel that I belong."
Daeninck's mother, Monica Furer, said in a telephone interview that her son has found the mix of deaf athlete and non-deaf teammates creates ingenuity and mutual learning.
One of his teammates has learned American Sign Language.
In the team races — where the first three athletes to cross the finish line set the time —the group has substituted hand signals and body taps for words, said Furer.
"It's made all of them more creative to find ways to include Christopher. He's a valuable skater and they want to include him," she said.
In addition, their opponents' coaches don't have a clue what they're planning.
Does any of this detract from the Canadian deaf sports community, which has a national association and sports across the country and competes in the Deaflympics?
Furer argues it doesn't, even though at times her son will choose non-deaf events because the competition is tougher.
"He's hugely involved in the deaf community, but he functions well in both the non-deaf and deaf community," she said.
"I think it's great there is a deaf Olympics out there and for some sports it levels the playing field. But for some, if you want to go all the way you want to go where the best competition is ... My kid's goal is to get on the junior national team."
Non-deaf athletes would lose a source of inspiration without their deaf teammate, says Lynita White, the captain of Dagg's team.
"We use her because she's good at ringette not because of any of her abilities or so-called disability," she said.
Meanwhile, White and several other girls are picking up American Sign Language words from their linemate, ranging from "play a streak" (a fast break) through to the post-goal phrase, "I love yah."