Students learn skills from basketball team

April 27, 2012

BY CAYLOR BALLINGER

Joshua Mata, 13, didn’t miss a beat as he learned new basketball passing techniques while signing rapidly to a friend nearby.

“It’s fun to play,” Mata said.

The eighth-grader at Ector Junior High was one of about 30 hearing-impaired students at San Jacinto Elementary on Friday participating in the second annual basketball camp taught by the men’s Midland College basketball team. The students ranged from pre-school to high school seniors.

Mata signed to his friend Nicholas Rincones, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at Ector Junior High, as players taught them basketball skills.

“It’s fun to watch the guys dunk,” Rincones said through an interpreter.

The Regional Day School Program for the Deaf within the Ector County Independent School District is in San Jacinto, Ector Junior High and Odessa High with about 49 total students in the program.

The basketball team players stationed at different areas around the gymnasium at San Jacinto and students were split into groups based on age.

There were interpreters on hand to help the players and students understand each other, but often the signing wasn’t even necessary.

Melvin Tabb, a 20-year-old in his first year on the Midland team, lifted up some of the younger students  to drop a basketball into the hoop. Tabb, who doesn’t know sign language, worked with the students by using hand gestures and sometimes worked through a nearby interpreter.

“I try be understandable,” Tabb said. “It’s just about having fun.”

Alejandra Alvidrez, a 13-year-old sixth grader at San Jacinto Elementary, said she certainly was, and the players there were so good, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“It’s so much fun, I will never forget this day,” Alvidrez said without needed an interpreter.

By the end of the camp, Alvidrez said she hoped to not only have fun, but to learn some skills.

“I want to learn to jump even higher and shoot the right way,” Alvidrez said.

Chris Craig, head basketball coach for the Midland basketball team, said the event is a great opportunity for both the players and the students.

“I just hope they (the students) have a lot of fun and learn a little about basketball,” Craig said.

Misty Holmes, teacher at Ector Junior who also serves as an interpreter, said she thought the event was great (even as she continued to rapidly sign to students nearby).

“I think it’s great and the kids love it, too,” Holmes said.

Holmes said there is not a big deaf community in Odessa and there aren’t many opportunities like the camp geared toward deaf students, which she said is good for the students.

Rakia Musa, district coordinator for the Regional Day School Program for the Deaf, said the event is wonderful.

“It’s fun for them to see real basketball players,” Musa said.

Ashley Braeuer, event director, said she and her husband coordinated the event last year and even though the couple has since moved to Maryland, Braeuer thought the event was worth traveling back to Odessa to coordinate.

“It’s something when I left, I felt we should (still) do,” Braeuer said.

The two-hour camp was after school at San Jacinto Elementary School in the gymnasium. The students received tips from the players, a T-shirt and opportunities to take pictures and talk to the team.

Braeuer said if she is still able to keep in contact with the team and they are still interested in putting the event on, shed be back for a third year.

“It’s just a really fun event,” Braeuer said.

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