The road to Rio is a silent one
S MANY SPORTING grounds are now able to open their doors to a number of fans, sports stars are celebrating the positive impact and atmosphere that crowd support brings to their performance. However, for Deaf athletes, one year away from Deaflympics 2021 in Brazil, the sound of silence is something they always face when competing.
A In London 2012 during Super Saturday, Team GB Olympians celebrated the ‘wall of sound’ that
reverberated around the Olympic Stadium cheering athletes to achieve memorable golden feats. And during the pandemic, football clubs piped pre-recorded fan cheers into these empty stadiums to avoid the sterile atmosphere and lack of energy that were the result of empty stands. For the 11 million Deaf people in the UK, silence is an ongoing challenge. So how do Deaf athletes draw on external stimuli to perform at their best? Visual stimuli work, whether that’s flag waving or visual hand cheering from the fans instead of applause. Alternatively, stamping feet or knocking on barriers can create vibrations that are strong enough to be felt by those more in tune with their non- hearing senses. The lack of sound can mean fewer distractions and a more internal focus, which Deaf athletes have naturally adapted to. UK Deaf Sport is the leading organisation responsible for supporting and encouraging more Deaf people to participate in sport and physical activity which includes the management of the DeaflympicsGB team. Past Sport England’s Active Lives Surveys have indicated that just 10% of Deaf adults participate in sport, considerably lower than the national average of 63% reported by Sport England in April 2020. As a result of COVID this is likely to have worsened as face mask wearing makes lip-reading and communication even more difficult, leading to increased feelings of isolation. Like the Olympics and Paralympics, the Deaflympics takes place every four years and is the opportunity for Deaf athletes to perform on the world stage. The next Deaflympics takes place in Rio from 5–21 December 2021 and UK Deaf Sport hopes to be able to field a DeaflympicsGB team, if they can raise the funds needed. DeaflympicsGB Tennis athlete Esah Hayat said, When I compete as a Deaf athlete I’ve never heard the ‘wall of sound’ support that many sportspeople say helps them to perform at their peak. However, I can feel the vibrations of foot stamping or see the flags waving, so they give me a positive psychological boost. After the challenges of 2020, it would be fantastic to represent DeaflympicsGB in Brazil and inspire more Deaf people to play and compete in sport’. Valerie Copenhagen, Executive Director of UK Deaf Sport, said: “Before the pandemic, we knew that only 10% of Deaf people participated in sport. We expect this to have fallen further this year because of the continued challenges around lip-reading when face masks are worn and the increased sense of isolation felt. The Deaflympics is the pinnacle of deaf sport and helps support and inspire Deaf people to become part of a healthy and active society. But we need help to raise the funds to get DeaflympicsGB to Brazil in 2021 and transform the lives of Deaf people through sport.”
Unlike their counterparts, DeaflympicsGB does not receive government funding for competing at the Deaflympics and will only be able to participate if enough money can be raised to help the team with flights, accommodation, kit and support staff. If you are able to, please donate to the UK Deaf Sport JustGiving page at
www.justgiving.com/ukds or contact
roadtobrazil@ukds.org.uk to explore sponsorship opportunities. Your support will help transform the lives of the Deaf people who currently don’t participate in sport.
Ability Needs Magazine 27
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