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Front & Center: Bethel player overcomes hearing loss to lead Jaguars - Vallejo Times Herald
Alexis Madayag has played basketball all her life yet has never heard the sounds of her sneakers on the hardwood, the swish of the net or even the referee's whistle.
Madayag nearly died at birth. Later, a bout of pneumonia left her in the hospital for nearly a month. Complications from that illness left her deaf by the time she was 2.
She was 7 when her uncle Jed introduced her to basketball, and what began as a way to build self-esteem soon became a life-long passion.
"My uncle taught me how to play and I love it," said the Jesse Bethel High School student, who will be a senior in the fall. "Basketball is my life."
It was while competing in Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball that Madayag learned how to play with hearing kids. She'd started out on her uncle's AAU teams - the Lady Blaze, Bay Area Fury, Bay Area Magic and the California Ballerz. It was through the Ballerz that Madayag met her future Bethel High teammates, Chanel Davis and Raquel Torres.
She left Pennycook Elementary School after turning 10, to attend California School for the Deaf in Fremont. She blossomed as a player there, leading the Eagles to the Fremont Unified School District Championship at 12. It was also the first deaf team to beat out all the hearing teams in her age group.
That same year, she participated in the Pan American Games for Deaf Youth in Washington, D.C. She became the youngest player selected for team USA and the only one from California. She'd get the chance to play against other deaf teams from Canada, Venezuela and Mexico.
"We won gold and the championship," Madayag said in an interview with her mother serving as her interpreter. "It was the first time I played against deaf kids from other countries. It was a different experience."
By the time Madayag started playing at the high school level, she had plenty of big game experience. During her final year at California School for the Deaf, her team participated in the Western States Basketball Classic, which brings the top deaf teams on the West Coast to play against each other. Her team took the title.
Not everyone was willing to work with her disability. When she tried to sign up for a club team, the league refused to allow her to play because of her hearing impairment. Her mother Jerina pulled a copy of the Americans with Disabilities Act and explained to officials that they play on public property and could not ban Alexis from playing.
Although she got on the team, athletes thrive on competition whether they are deaf or not. Madayag is no different, and took that slight as motivation to play better and prove she could do anything other teens can do.
A matter of respect
"Some people watch games and are surprised that I do know how to play," Madayag said. "I feel like sometimes they don't respect me, but I say 'one day they will respect me.'"
To her, the hardwood is the ultimate equalizer. It's a place where there is nothing but the game and the only thing that matters is whether you can play or not.
"When I'm on the floor, I'm not thinking about being deaf or what other people are thinking. I'm thinking about basketball," Madayag said. "If I'm feeling down or I have some things on my mind, I use basketball as a way to help me feel better."
After years of attending school in Fremont, Madayag felt the urge to live in Vallejo again. She had two years left in high school and with college looming, she wanted to experience what it was like to go to school with kids who could hear. So last summer she moved out of the dorms and enrolled at Bethel High as a junior.
"I wanted to go to Bethel because it was closer to home," Madayag said. "I told my mom that if I go to college, I want to go to a mainstream college. I wanted to know what it felt like to have an interpreter with me all the time."
She was the only deaf student to attend Bethel High School this year.
The biggest hurdle was communication, and Madayag had some trouble adjusting to her new school.
"Communicating was a challenge," Madayag said. "Sometimes my friends would be talking and I wouldn't know what they were talking about. I'd just be sitting there because I sign, and can't speak." She also has limited lip-reading skills.
Merry Lynn was hired by the district to serve as an interpreter for Madayag during the school year. She would often sit near her during classes and relay to her instructions from the teacher. During basketball practices and games, Lynn would often stand on the sidelines next to Bethel head coach Paul Davis and relay instructions to Madayag during games.
Despite some challenges that Madayag faced, Lynn said that Madayag's experience at Bethel is "100 percent unique." Deaf children are normally isolated at school because students who can hear are afraid of them, but at Bethel, she said, "I've never seen a deaf person not be isolated and feel so comfortable."
Off the court
Madayag was not the only one who had to make adjustments. Her teammates, coaches and other students had to get used to having someone who is deaf on campus.
Lynn, Madayag's interpreter, said everybody she saw at Bethel was open and receptive to Madayag. Often her teammates ask Lynn to teach them how to sign so that they can communicate directly with her.
"High school kids are sometimes cliquey and cruel but everybody adored her. I've never seen that," Lynn said. "Alexis is the only one I've seen that wasn't made to feel different. Every day kids came up and asked how to sign. They wanted to tell her things themselves. She was great about teaching them."
Keyasha Hunt was one student who took the initiative to make Madayag feel welcome. Hunt was a Bethel cheerleader and played on the junior varsity team. She first met Madayag through Davis and Torres.
Learning to sign
"Just met her this year and one of my friends introduced me and we started talking," Hunt said. "I learned to sign her name and after that I decided to start a club."
Hunt started a sign language class after the basketball season. The class was held in an after-school program called Jaguar Zone. Madayag's mom Jerina would become the teacher.
"When it first started, it was just a couple of people, but it got bigger and people came consistently," Hunt said. "There was food there and it was something fun."
Many of Madayag's teammates would attend the class, including coach Paul Davis, who strongly encouraged his players to attend. Davis said, "the majority of the team goes to the class so all learn how to communicate with her."
The class stopped when the school year ended, but Hunt said she wants to resume it again in the fall.
"I want to make it where it's big," Hunt said. "I want to take field trips to a deaf school and make it fun for everybody."
Alexis Madayag has played basketball all her life yet has never heard the sounds of her sneakers on the hardwood, the swish of the net or even the referee's whistle.
Madayag nearly died at birth. Later, a bout of pneumonia left her in the hospital for nearly a month. Complications from that illness left her deaf by the time she was 2.
She was 7 when her uncle Jed introduced her to basketball, and what began as a way to build self-esteem soon became a life-long passion.
"My uncle taught me how to play and I love it," said the Jesse Bethel High School student, who will be a senior in the fall. "Basketball is my life."
It was while competing in Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball that Madayag learned how to play with hearing kids. She'd started out on her uncle's AAU teams - the Lady Blaze, Bay Area Fury, Bay Area Magic and the California Ballerz. It was through the Ballerz that Madayag met her future Bethel High teammates, Chanel Davis and Raquel Torres.
She left Pennycook Elementary School after turning 10, to attend California School for the Deaf in Fremont. She blossomed as a player there, leading the Eagles to the Fremont Unified School District Championship at 12. It was also the first deaf team to beat out all the hearing teams in her age group.
That same year, she participated in the Pan American Games for Deaf Youth in Washington, D.C. She became the youngest player selected for team USA and the only one from California. She'd get the chance to play against other deaf teams from Canada, Venezuela and Mexico.
"We won gold and the championship," Madayag said in an interview with her mother serving as her interpreter. "It was the first time I played against deaf kids from other countries. It was a different experience."
By the time Madayag started playing at the high school level, she had plenty of big game experience. During her final year at California School for the Deaf, her team participated in the Western States Basketball Classic, which brings the top deaf teams on the West Coast to play against each other. Her team took the title.
Not everyone was willing to work with her disability. When she tried to sign up for a club team, the league refused to allow her to play because of her hearing impairment. Her mother Jerina pulled a copy of the Americans with Disabilities Act and explained to officials that they play on public property and could not ban Alexis from playing.
Although she got on the team, athletes thrive on competition whether they are deaf or not. Madayag is no different, and took that slight as motivation to play better and prove she could do anything other teens can do.
A matter of respect
"Some people watch games and are surprised that I do know how to play," Madayag said. "I feel like sometimes they don't respect me, but I say 'one day they will respect me.'"
To her, the hardwood is the ultimate equalizer. It's a place where there is nothing but the game and the only thing that matters is whether you can play or not.
"When I'm on the floor, I'm not thinking about being deaf or what other people are thinking. I'm thinking about basketball," Madayag said. "If I'm feeling down or I have some things on my mind, I use basketball as a way to help me feel better."
After years of attending school in Fremont, Madayag felt the urge to live in Vallejo again. She had two years left in high school and with college looming, she wanted to experience what it was like to go to school with kids who could hear. So last summer she moved out of the dorms and enrolled at Bethel High as a junior.
"I wanted to go to Bethel because it was closer to home," Madayag said. "I told my mom that if I go to college, I want to go to a mainstream college. I wanted to know what it felt like to have an interpreter with me all the time."
She was the only deaf student to attend Bethel High School this year.
The biggest hurdle was communication, and Madayag had some trouble adjusting to her new school.
"Communicating was a challenge," Madayag said. "Sometimes my friends would be talking and I wouldn't know what they were talking about. I'd just be sitting there because I sign, and can't speak." She also has limited lip-reading skills.
Merry Lynn was hired by the district to serve as an interpreter for Madayag during the school year. She would often sit near her during classes and relay to her instructions from the teacher. During basketball practices and games, Lynn would often stand on the sidelines next to Bethel head coach Paul Davis and relay instructions to Madayag during games.
Despite some challenges that Madayag faced, Lynn said that Madayag's experience at Bethel is "100 percent unique." Deaf children are normally isolated at school because students who can hear are afraid of them, but at Bethel, she said, "I've never seen a deaf person not be isolated and feel so comfortable."
Off the court
Madayag was not the only one who had to make adjustments. Her teammates, coaches and other students had to get used to having someone who is deaf on campus.
Lynn, Madayag's interpreter, said everybody she saw at Bethel was open and receptive to Madayag. Often her teammates ask Lynn to teach them how to sign so that they can communicate directly with her.
"High school kids are sometimes cliquey and cruel but everybody adored her. I've never seen that," Lynn said. "Alexis is the only one I've seen that wasn't made to feel different. Every day kids came up and asked how to sign. They wanted to tell her things themselves. She was great about teaching them."
Keyasha Hunt was one student who took the initiative to make Madayag feel welcome. Hunt was a Bethel cheerleader and played on the junior varsity team. She first met Madayag through Davis and Torres.
Learning to sign
"Just met her this year and one of my friends introduced me and we started talking," Hunt said. "I learned to sign her name and after that I decided to start a club."
Hunt started a sign language class after the basketball season. The class was held in an after-school program called Jaguar Zone. Madayag's mom Jerina would become the teacher.
"When it first started, it was just a couple of people, but it got bigger and people came consistently," Hunt said. "There was food there and it was something fun."
Many of Madayag's teammates would attend the class, including coach Paul Davis, who strongly encouraged his players to attend. Davis said, "the majority of the team goes to the class so all learn how to communicate with her."
The class stopped when the school year ended, but Hunt said she wants to resume it again in the fall.
"I want to make it where it's big," Hunt said. "I want to take field trips to a deaf school and make it fun for everybody."