{"id":14281,"date":"2011-05-08T20:03:07","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T01:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=14281"},"modified":"2011-05-10T04:11:31","modified_gmt":"2011-05-10T09:11:31","slug":"deaf-olympics-draws-70-youths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/05\/08\/deaf-olympics-draws-70-youths\/","title":{"rendered":"Deaf Olympics draws 70 youths"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deaf Olympics draws 70 youths<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Charles Bryce Special to the Standard-Times
\nMay 6, 2011<\/p>\n

SAN ANGELO, Texas \u2014 Judging by the laughter, the contagious smiles and the
\nnumerous congratulatory high-fives Friday, the West Texas Deaf Olympics at
\nOld Bobcat Stadium was a big hit.<\/p>\n

More than 70 youths from San Angelo, Del Rio, Rocksprings, Brownwood, Early,
\nMason, Lubbock, Grape Creek, Panther Creek and elsewhere across Texas
\ncompeted in individual and team events as parents, grandparents, other
\nfamily members and teachers watched with pride and cheered them on.<\/p>\n

The students showcased their talents in events such as the rope climb, rock
\nwall climb, obstacle course, long jump, pull-ups arm hang, sit-ups, soccer
\nkicks and running sprints.<\/p>\n

Festivities got under way with the individual events. After participants ate
\nlunch, they wrapped up the competition with team events, followed by an
\nawards ceremony with picture-taking and prizes.<\/p>\n

Event organizers rolled out the red carpet for the student-athletes. They
\nprovided them with snacks and refreshments, sunscreen and chair massages.<\/p>\n

Del Rio’s Ernesto Garcia, one of the youngest competitors, made it look easy
\nwhen breezed his way to the top of the rock climb, which was about 20 feet
\nhigh.<\/p>\n

Apparently, the youngster doesn’t have a fear of heights whatsoever.<\/p>\n

“He’s not afraid of danger,” his mother said in Spanish through an
\ninterpreter. “He likes to try anything. He’s very active.”<\/p>\n

This was the second year for Ernesto to compete in the Deaf Olympics, and he
\nwas eager to be back.<\/p>\n

“He always has the desire,” his mother said. “He’s always looking forward to
\nit.”<\/p>\n

Brady’s Mariah Pfiester dazzled the crowd by doing 201 sit-ups. She stays
\nactive, and her background in gymnastics gave her a leg up.<\/p>\n

Sue Marchbank, Mariah’s teacher, said the 10-year-old makes Marchbank’s job
\neasier in the classroom.<\/p>\n

“She’s just a delightful kid,” Marchbank said of the fourth-grader. “She
\nreally is. She helps me to teach other members of her class sign language.”<\/p>\n

Chris Valdez, of Anson, was one of the many proud parents on hand Friday.
\nHis 2-year-old son, Anthony, goes to school in Abilene, and the family was
\nexcited to take part in the special day for the first time.<\/p>\n

“This is just a great event,” Chris Valdez said after watching his older son
\nIsiah show his little the brother the ropes in the obstacle course. “This
\nhas just been terrific.”<\/p>\n

When asked if he was having fun competing, Anthony emphatically replied,
\n“Yes.”<\/p>\n

Rocksprings’ Melissa Fernandez, whose son Angel was competing, had nothing
\nbut good things to say about the Deaf Olympics.<\/p>\n

“It’s a lot of fun,” Fernandez said. “It’s helpful to him. He gets to see
\nthat all of the other kids are just like him. I think it lets them know that
\nthey can do the same things that the other kids can do. It’s not really any
\ndifferent.”<\/p>\n

Last year, when the Fernandez family came for the first time, Angel got to
\nsee another child with cochlear implants like his for the first time, which
\nwas beneficial for him, said his teachers Donna Cook and Alison Barton.<\/p>\n

San Angeloans Abraham Granado and Travan Carter were two of the older
\ncompetitors.<\/p>\n

Carter said, “it’s fun seeing him out here,” when asked if he had more fun
\ncompeting or watching his friend.<\/p>\n

Seven-year-old Riley Boling, of Sterling City, couldn’t wait to get over to
\nthe pull-ups arm hang event right after he strutted his stuff in the running
\nsprint.<\/p>\n

“I like the dash and the rock climbing,” Riley said, in addition to being a
\nbig fan of the soccer kick.<\/p>\n

Like a lot of the adults, San Angeloan Gilbert Dominguez was using his
\ncamcorder to record memories for a lifetime. His grandson, Xavier Valdez,
\nwas one of the youngest athletes.<\/p>\n

“I’m going to go see my mom for Mother’s Day in Levelland,” his grandfather
\nsaid. “I’m recording so that she can see her great-grandchild.”<\/p>\n

Event coordinator Brenda Wellen, of Lee Middle School, said it was a
\nwonderful day for everyone involved.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had lots more attendance from the past years when we started,” she
\nsaid. “It’s grown substantially.<\/p>\n

“They’ve had a good time, and it’s not only just a place for the kids to
\nconnect with each other and find other people who (do) sign (language) or
\nwear cochlear implants or communicate the way they communicate, it’s also a
\nconnecting spot for parents, too, and the staff.<\/p>\n

“It’s the only time that the parents get to see each other, and it’s the
\nonly time that the students get to see each other. It’s kind of a reunion
\nevery year.”<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.gosanangelo.com\/news\/2011\/may\/06\/deaf-olympics-draws-70-youths\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deaf Olympics draws 70 youths By Charles Bryce Special to the Standard-Times May 6, 2011 SAN ANGELO, Texas \u2014 Judging by the laughter, the contagious smiles and the numerous congratulatory high-fives Friday, the West Texas Deaf Olympics at Old Bobcat…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[3194,9240,4621,3295,9229,9247,9238,1554,3958,8786,9227,9234,9230,9244,9232,40,9243,996,9237,9231,9239,9249,9233,93,72,9242,9235,9228,5814,191,9246,9248,182,9236,17,9241,553,9245,7776],"class_list":["post-14281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-abilene","tag-abraham-granado","tag-article","tag-athletes","tag-brownwood","tag-charles-bryce","tag-chris-valdez","tag-cochlear-implant","tag-competitions","tag-deaf-olympics","tag-del-rio","tag-del-rios-ernesto-garcia","tag-early","tag-gilbert-dominguez","tag-grape-creek","tag-interpreter","tag-lee-middle-school","tag-lubbock","tag-mariah-pfiester","tag-mason","tag-melissa-fernandez","tag-old-bobcat-stadium","tag-panther-creek","tag-parent","tag-reunion","tag-riley-boling","tag-rock-climb","tag-rocksprings","tag-san-angelo","tag-sign-language","tag-soccer","tag-standard-times","tag-students","tag-sue-marchbank","tag-texas","tag-travan-carter","tag-west-texas","tag-xavier-valdez","tag-youths"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-3Il","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22429,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/04\/04\/west-texas-deaf-olympics-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":14281,"position":0},"title":"West Texas Deaf Olympics 2013","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"West Texas Deaf Olympics 2013 The West Texas Deaf Olympics were begun 9 years ago in San Angelo. 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