Miss-Delectable
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http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070226/SPORTS/702260336/1006
Basketball is a loud sport. Whistles, cheerleaders, hundreds of people yelling and, in some cases, screaming, horns going off.
Turn off the volume and play that game in a silent setting.
Lindsay Stergio does that every day.
The Montville High School junior cannot hear the whistle, nor can she hear what is being said in the stands, being yelled by fans, or being said by her coach and teammates.
Lindsay Stergio is deaf.
Just don't tell that to Lindsay Stergio.
"I feel like I'm normal," the blond-tressed basketball player said. "I just want to learn, go to college, play ball."
And not at the American School for the Deaf, or any other school for those similarly afflicted.
It's an advantage in some respects, a disadvantage in others.
"She was born deaf," her mother, Sue Stergio, said while sitting in the bleachers watching one of Lindsay's games vs. Tourtellotte recently. "Life hasn't been easy for her because she is profoundly deaf but (her father) Mark and I brought her up to believe that she is just like everybody else.
'You can fit in, you can do it,' and that's how she approaches things."
The initial goal for the Stergios was to make it possible for their daughter to be independent and function on her own. But play competitive sports? That wasn't in the original plan as they had just hoped their daughter would be included in activities.
Montville coach Derek Wainwright said when he first happened upon Lindsay, he never wanted her to be the deaf kid who plays basketball. That is why Wainwright discouraged stories about Stergio in her freshman year.
"She's a great student, a very intelligent basketball player and the deaf thing has not been an issue," he said. "I've just had to make my coaching style work with that. We have a hand signal for every offense, every defense and every out-of-bounds play and everything's been consistent since that freshman year."
Today, Montville sports a 16-6 record and Stergio is a key reason why. She is third-best on the team in scoring with 11.4 points per game, behind only Nikkia Smith (14.5) and Caitlin Quinn (13.9). She handles the ball and Wainwright likes nothing better than when Stergio gets out on the break. For those reasons and more, she was named an honorable mention Eastern Connecticut Conference All-Star.
"When she was a freshman, it was like I had a wild horse out there," Wainwright said with a chuckle. "Some of my friends who came to watch the games told me that she was so athletic but also so out of control."
Wainwright said that for the first year and a half his biggest goal with Stergio was to slow her down, but she is a natural leader and had a tendency to speed up when she took over.
"I think she's learned now that faster isn't necessarily the right thing, she has matured and slowed down. Sometimes, slower is better," Wainwright said.
Stergio is more than able to carry on a normal conversation. She reads lips very well and, on the other side, her teammates have learned sign language. Wainwright hasn't yet, but he and Stergio understand one another very well.
"When I came into ninth grade, he was trying to learn how to deal with deaf people," she said. "Now, I understand him and everything he says.
"It's hard to be on the court and be deaf, because I don't hear a lot of things. I have to read the other players' lips and see what's going on, on the court."
Quinn brightens up when she talks about her teammate and her accomplishments.
"She's the best," Quinn said. "We couldn't play without her. It's tough for her because she can't always hear you on the court, but she has handled that better than anyone could have hoped."
Challenges
Quinn did relate something that does happen to Stergio every now and again. Even though Wainwright tells the officials prior to the game that she is deaf, they don't always remember, such as in the game vs. Tourtellotte.
"The ref today was yelling at her to get her hand off the girl (she was guarding), she couldn't hear him and she got her fifth foul," Quinn said. "I asked the ref to yell (as loud as he could) but it doesn't matter because she couldn't hear him. Those are the kinds of things she has to deal with."
Probably the biggest setback came earlier this year. Stergio had just been fitted with a new digital hearing aid and was doing well until she suffered a concussion early in practice.
"When I suffered that concussion, I had this constant ringing in my head, but it's been getting better," Stergio said.
Said Wainwright: "I felt bad for her. She was hearing better this year than I had ever seen before. Once she got hit in the head, it was back like it was before and it was like something was taken away from her. That frustrated her, being able to hear something and losing it again."
If there is one thing that Stergio has not lost, it's the desire to play basketball at a higher level.
"Our hopes were that she would be an independent child some day and she has taken on that challenge," Sue Stergio said. "I never thought she would get to the degree that she wants to be at this point. She just loves the sport of basketball and she's done quite well I think."
So does her coach.
"I knew what we were going to have here and, next year, I honestly believe she will end up a full ride to college somewhere because of her athletic ability," Wainwright said.
Basketball is a loud sport. Whistles, cheerleaders, hundreds of people yelling and, in some cases, screaming, horns going off.
Turn off the volume and play that game in a silent setting.
Lindsay Stergio does that every day.
The Montville High School junior cannot hear the whistle, nor can she hear what is being said in the stands, being yelled by fans, or being said by her coach and teammates.
Lindsay Stergio is deaf.
Just don't tell that to Lindsay Stergio.
"I feel like I'm normal," the blond-tressed basketball player said. "I just want to learn, go to college, play ball."
And not at the American School for the Deaf, or any other school for those similarly afflicted.
It's an advantage in some respects, a disadvantage in others.
"She was born deaf," her mother, Sue Stergio, said while sitting in the bleachers watching one of Lindsay's games vs. Tourtellotte recently. "Life hasn't been easy for her because she is profoundly deaf but (her father) Mark and I brought her up to believe that she is just like everybody else.
'You can fit in, you can do it,' and that's how she approaches things."
The initial goal for the Stergios was to make it possible for their daughter to be independent and function on her own. But play competitive sports? That wasn't in the original plan as they had just hoped their daughter would be included in activities.
Montville coach Derek Wainwright said when he first happened upon Lindsay, he never wanted her to be the deaf kid who plays basketball. That is why Wainwright discouraged stories about Stergio in her freshman year.
"She's a great student, a very intelligent basketball player and the deaf thing has not been an issue," he said. "I've just had to make my coaching style work with that. We have a hand signal for every offense, every defense and every out-of-bounds play and everything's been consistent since that freshman year."
Today, Montville sports a 16-6 record and Stergio is a key reason why. She is third-best on the team in scoring with 11.4 points per game, behind only Nikkia Smith (14.5) and Caitlin Quinn (13.9). She handles the ball and Wainwright likes nothing better than when Stergio gets out on the break. For those reasons and more, she was named an honorable mention Eastern Connecticut Conference All-Star.
"When she was a freshman, it was like I had a wild horse out there," Wainwright said with a chuckle. "Some of my friends who came to watch the games told me that she was so athletic but also so out of control."
Wainwright said that for the first year and a half his biggest goal with Stergio was to slow her down, but she is a natural leader and had a tendency to speed up when she took over.
"I think she's learned now that faster isn't necessarily the right thing, she has matured and slowed down. Sometimes, slower is better," Wainwright said.
Stergio is more than able to carry on a normal conversation. She reads lips very well and, on the other side, her teammates have learned sign language. Wainwright hasn't yet, but he and Stergio understand one another very well.
"When I came into ninth grade, he was trying to learn how to deal with deaf people," she said. "Now, I understand him and everything he says.
"It's hard to be on the court and be deaf, because I don't hear a lot of things. I have to read the other players' lips and see what's going on, on the court."
Quinn brightens up when she talks about her teammate and her accomplishments.
"She's the best," Quinn said. "We couldn't play without her. It's tough for her because she can't always hear you on the court, but she has handled that better than anyone could have hoped."
Challenges
Quinn did relate something that does happen to Stergio every now and again. Even though Wainwright tells the officials prior to the game that she is deaf, they don't always remember, such as in the game vs. Tourtellotte.
"The ref today was yelling at her to get her hand off the girl (she was guarding), she couldn't hear him and she got her fifth foul," Quinn said. "I asked the ref to yell (as loud as he could) but it doesn't matter because she couldn't hear him. Those are the kinds of things she has to deal with."
Probably the biggest setback came earlier this year. Stergio had just been fitted with a new digital hearing aid and was doing well until she suffered a concussion early in practice.
"When I suffered that concussion, I had this constant ringing in my head, but it's been getting better," Stergio said.
Said Wainwright: "I felt bad for her. She was hearing better this year than I had ever seen before. Once she got hit in the head, it was back like it was before and it was like something was taken away from her. That frustrated her, being able to hear something and losing it again."
If there is one thing that Stergio has not lost, it's the desire to play basketball at a higher level.
"Our hopes were that she would be an independent child some day and she has taken on that challenge," Sue Stergio said. "I never thought she would get to the degree that she wants to be at this point. She just loves the sport of basketball and she's done quite well I think."
So does her coach.
"I knew what we were going to have here and, next year, I honestly believe she will end up a full ride to college somewhere because of her athletic ability," Wainwright said.