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Riverside water polo star to compete in Deaflympics in Taiwan | Inland News | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California
Sitting on the couch in the family room of his late grandfather's home, Stetson McBirnie looks like a typical teenager.
He's wearing a "Speedo Athletics" T-shirt and blue jeans and balancing his little dog Cowboy on his lap.
But Stetson isn't so typical. He has been deaf since birth and has dyslexia, a learning disorder that can cause difficulty with language skills.
Neither has stopped him from excelling in aquatics at Riverside King High School. Last season, he both swam and played water polo for the Wolves.
Stetson, 17, recently added another accomplishment -- qualifying as one of eight members of the Southern California-based U.S. National Deaf Water Polo team. Stetson, a junior, is practicing with the team at a variety of Southern California locations and will leave for the Deaflympics in Taiwan late this month.
Opening ceremonies are Sept. 5.
Stetson, who is 6 feet 2 inches tall and left-handed, is the youngest player on the U.S. team by six years.
"I'm nervous and excited," Stetson said through his mother and interpreter, Tammy Dickey-McBirnie. "It's a big thing and it's fun. It's a little bit intimidating because in high school I swim with kids my age."
He communicates through American Sign Language, which his mother interprets.
"Stetson is doing great," Jordan Eickman, McBirnie's U.S. teammate, wrote in an e-mail from his Northridge home. "He has improved immensely since he first joined U.S. Deaf Water Polo. Stetson is an exciting young player with a bright future."
The U.S. Deaf Water Polo team is affiliated with the USA Deaf Sports Foundation, as well as with USA Water Polo as a club affiliate.
When Stetson isn't in the pool, his mother is omnipresent. She is fluent in American Sign Language, which Eickman says is rare for the parent of a deaf youngster.
"(She) deserves a lot of credit for her support of Stetson and the 2009 U.S. Deaflympics water polo team," Eickman said. "She has really invested much time, effort and energy, becoming the Team Mom in the process. She is always there at every training camp."
She has also helped Stetson and the team raise money for their 2009 Deaflympics expenses, he wrote.
Dickey-McBirnie said each player must raise $4,600. So far they have raised about $3,000, she said. They need to exceed Stetson's individual goal, because Dickey-McBirnie plans to accompany him. Stetson has never ventured outside of the U.S. before.
Fortunately, adaptability is one of Stetson's strong points. He has attended two schools -- California School for the Deaf, Riverside and Riverside King.
This fall he probably will transfer to his third, Riverside Ramona High School, his mother said. The campus is closer to where the family is moving and Stetson hopes to take a morning construction class at the nearby School for the Deaf.
The past three months have been a time of transition for the family, which includes Stetson's brother Colt, 20, a former King wrestling star who also has dyslexia. Tammy's father, Charles Dickey, died April 16 at age 76 and left his home to his daughter. The family is sprucing it up before moving in from their present home in Woodcrest.
The loss of his grandfather was a blow for Stetson, who doesn't have a father in his life. The teen said he enjoyed eating waffles with his grandfather at Flo's coffee shop and scarfing hamburgers with him at Wendy's.
"I'm mad that I don't get to see him anymore," Stetson said. "I wanted him to be around forever. I'm very upset. We were very close."
At King, Stetson stood out playing junior varsity water polo -- scoring 15 to 20 goals by his own count -- and found the net four times in some limited varsity time.
"He has good speed and a good swimming background," Wolves water polo coach Ken Rosa said. "He's also left-handed and that's important. There aren't that many left-handers (playing)."
The universal signal for applause in the deaf world is the waving of hands, which the King fans quickly learned as Stetson scored with increasing regularity.
"We trained them," Dickey-McBirnie said. "After a while everyone was waving their hands when Stetson would score a goal. He likes the applause."
Sitting on the couch in the family room of his late grandfather's home, Stetson McBirnie looks like a typical teenager.
He's wearing a "Speedo Athletics" T-shirt and blue jeans and balancing his little dog Cowboy on his lap.
But Stetson isn't so typical. He has been deaf since birth and has dyslexia, a learning disorder that can cause difficulty with language skills.
Neither has stopped him from excelling in aquatics at Riverside King High School. Last season, he both swam and played water polo for the Wolves.
Stetson, 17, recently added another accomplishment -- qualifying as one of eight members of the Southern California-based U.S. National Deaf Water Polo team. Stetson, a junior, is practicing with the team at a variety of Southern California locations and will leave for the Deaflympics in Taiwan late this month.
Opening ceremonies are Sept. 5.
Stetson, who is 6 feet 2 inches tall and left-handed, is the youngest player on the U.S. team by six years.
"I'm nervous and excited," Stetson said through his mother and interpreter, Tammy Dickey-McBirnie. "It's a big thing and it's fun. It's a little bit intimidating because in high school I swim with kids my age."
He communicates through American Sign Language, which his mother interprets.
"Stetson is doing great," Jordan Eickman, McBirnie's U.S. teammate, wrote in an e-mail from his Northridge home. "He has improved immensely since he first joined U.S. Deaf Water Polo. Stetson is an exciting young player with a bright future."
The U.S. Deaf Water Polo team is affiliated with the USA Deaf Sports Foundation, as well as with USA Water Polo as a club affiliate.
When Stetson isn't in the pool, his mother is omnipresent. She is fluent in American Sign Language, which Eickman says is rare for the parent of a deaf youngster.
"(She) deserves a lot of credit for her support of Stetson and the 2009 U.S. Deaflympics water polo team," Eickman said. "She has really invested much time, effort and energy, becoming the Team Mom in the process. She is always there at every training camp."
She has also helped Stetson and the team raise money for their 2009 Deaflympics expenses, he wrote.
Dickey-McBirnie said each player must raise $4,600. So far they have raised about $3,000, she said. They need to exceed Stetson's individual goal, because Dickey-McBirnie plans to accompany him. Stetson has never ventured outside of the U.S. before.
Fortunately, adaptability is one of Stetson's strong points. He has attended two schools -- California School for the Deaf, Riverside and Riverside King.
This fall he probably will transfer to his third, Riverside Ramona High School, his mother said. The campus is closer to where the family is moving and Stetson hopes to take a morning construction class at the nearby School for the Deaf.
The past three months have been a time of transition for the family, which includes Stetson's brother Colt, 20, a former King wrestling star who also has dyslexia. Tammy's father, Charles Dickey, died April 16 at age 76 and left his home to his daughter. The family is sprucing it up before moving in from their present home in Woodcrest.
The loss of his grandfather was a blow for Stetson, who doesn't have a father in his life. The teen said he enjoyed eating waffles with his grandfather at Flo's coffee shop and scarfing hamburgers with him at Wendy's.
"I'm mad that I don't get to see him anymore," Stetson said. "I wanted him to be around forever. I'm very upset. We were very close."
At King, Stetson stood out playing junior varsity water polo -- scoring 15 to 20 goals by his own count -- and found the net four times in some limited varsity time.
"He has good speed and a good swimming background," Wolves water polo coach Ken Rosa said. "He's also left-handed and that's important. There aren't that many left-handers (playing)."
The universal signal for applause in the deaf world is the waving of hands, which the King fans quickly learned as Stetson scored with increasing regularity.
"We trained them," Dickey-McBirnie said. "After a while everyone was waving their hands when Stetson would score a goal. He likes the applause."