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WCFcourier.com - Waterloo and Cedar Falls Iowa News Homepage | News » Metro: Deaf Waterloo teen earns spot on all-star roster
When Mic Dolan takes the basketball court, the applause of his fans falls on deaf ears --- literally.
The 18-year-old from Waterloo was born without the ability to hear, but the disability hasn't kept him from succeeding on the hardcourt.
As a point guard for the Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs, Dolan led his team to a fifth place finish in the Great Plains Schools for the Deaf basketball tournament earlier this year. On Saturday, the teen will compete in an invitational all-star game in Orlando for the nation's top deaf high school players. The showdown is sponsored by the U.S.A. Deaf Basketball association.
"It is not really different," Dolan wrote in an e-mail about deaf basketball. "We use sign language to communicate during the games."
The senior is one of 20 players selected for the competition. Dolan left for Florida today. In addition to playing in the all-star game, the Cedar Valley native will also get the chance to visit Universal Studios and take in other U.S.A. Deaf Basketball games. The Council Bluffs Silent Club raised $274.50 to help Dolan defray the cost of the trip.
"When Mic came into my office with the letter inviting him to the tournament, he was so excited," said Rebecca Gaw, high school principal with the Iowa School for the Deaf. "And we were too. - This is a small school, and Mic is one of our student leaders. It's fun to see those kids succeed."
Dolan has attended the school since his second semester of second grade in 1998. The honor-roll student also belongs to the school's football and track teams and participates in student council and Brain Bowl, an academic quiz competition. This fall he was crowned homecoming king.
Letting Dolan move to Council Bluffs to join the Iowa School for the Deaf was difficult, said his mother.
"My kids are my life," said Deb Dolan, who has two other hearing-impaired children. "But there was nothing for (Mic) to do here in Waterloo. No one for him to play with, really."
Today the Waterloo woman knows she made the right decision.
"Mic changed from this shy little boy into this going-places kid," she said.
At the school, Dolan learned not to let his disability define him. Instead, the teen has turned his thoughts to the future.
"I am just like you --- I can play sports, have a job, drive, (get an) education, live on my own," he wrote in an e-mail. "The only exception is that I can't hear the sounds."
When Mic Dolan takes the basketball court, the applause of his fans falls on deaf ears --- literally.
The 18-year-old from Waterloo was born without the ability to hear, but the disability hasn't kept him from succeeding on the hardcourt.
As a point guard for the Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs, Dolan led his team to a fifth place finish in the Great Plains Schools for the Deaf basketball tournament earlier this year. On Saturday, the teen will compete in an invitational all-star game in Orlando for the nation's top deaf high school players. The showdown is sponsored by the U.S.A. Deaf Basketball association.
"It is not really different," Dolan wrote in an e-mail about deaf basketball. "We use sign language to communicate during the games."
The senior is one of 20 players selected for the competition. Dolan left for Florida today. In addition to playing in the all-star game, the Cedar Valley native will also get the chance to visit Universal Studios and take in other U.S.A. Deaf Basketball games. The Council Bluffs Silent Club raised $274.50 to help Dolan defray the cost of the trip.
"When Mic came into my office with the letter inviting him to the tournament, he was so excited," said Rebecca Gaw, high school principal with the Iowa School for the Deaf. "And we were too. - This is a small school, and Mic is one of our student leaders. It's fun to see those kids succeed."
Dolan has attended the school since his second semester of second grade in 1998. The honor-roll student also belongs to the school's football and track teams and participates in student council and Brain Bowl, an academic quiz competition. This fall he was crowned homecoming king.
Letting Dolan move to Council Bluffs to join the Iowa School for the Deaf was difficult, said his mother.
"My kids are my life," said Deb Dolan, who has two other hearing-impaired children. "But there was nothing for (Mic) to do here in Waterloo. No one for him to play with, really."
Today the Waterloo woman knows she made the right decision.
"Mic changed from this shy little boy into this going-places kid," she said.
At the school, Dolan learned not to let his disability define him. Instead, the teen has turned his thoughts to the future.
"I am just like you --- I can play sports, have a job, drive, (get an) education, live on my own," he wrote in an e-mail. "The only exception is that I can't hear the sounds."