{"id":27825,"date":"2014-06-25T03:39:49","date_gmt":"2014-06-25T08:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=27825"},"modified":"2014-06-25T03:39:49","modified_gmt":"2014-06-25T08:39:49","slug":"more-than-hoops-camp-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2014\/06\/25\/more-than-hoops-camp-new-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"More than hoops camp – New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than hoops camp<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fort Lewis College, school<\/span> for deaf learn how to communicate<\/p>\n

June 15, 2014<\/p>\n

Deven Thompson halted his dribble and quickly pushed up a 15-foot shot over camp coach Matthias Weissl during a one-on-one drill.<\/p>\n

A bit later in a different part of Whalen Gym, FLC men\u2019s basketball head coach Bob Hofman dropped a dollar bill on the court behind the 3-point line. Joseph Hicks stepped up to it and launched a 24-footer. The shot banked in, and Hicks reached down to claim the bill.<\/p>\n

Hicks, too, got no words of praise from the coach. Just a smile of congratulations and a roll of the eyes. (Hofman<\/span> had given away a lot of dollar bills playing \u201cmoneyball<\/span>.\u201d)<\/p>\n

The Skyhawk Boys Basketball Individual Camp last week was full of sounds \u2013 coaches shouting, balls bouncing off the floor and clanging off rims, buzzers sounding, players yelling.<\/p>\n

Thompson and Hicks heard none of it.<\/p>\n

They were among eight youths at the annual camp who are legally deaf, and that presented big challenges and learning opportunities for everyone involved, especially the FLC camp coaches, who include current and former players and coaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, they didn\u2019t quite know how to handle things,\u201d said Letty Perez, athletic coordinator at the New Mexico School for the Deaf in Santa Fe. \u201cBut they\u2019re great. I said, \u2018Treat them as equals. Don\u2019t make any special modifications for them.\u2019 They\u2019re wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The camp, which ran Monday through Thursday, was in its 15th year, the 11th under the directorship of Bob Pietrack, associate head coach at FLC.<\/p>\n

Pietrack<\/span> said he thought it would be a great opportunity not only for the hearing-impaired students but<\/span> for other campers and the staff. One of the camp goals is to be a better teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s helped the camaraderie of the whole camp,\u201d Pietrack said. \u201cI think it\u2019s brought us closer.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the boys\u2019 camp, it\u2019s a first. The New Mexico school brought its girls to the girls\u2019 camp two years ago, and plans to come every couple years assuming it fits into the summer schedule.<\/p>\n

The School for the Deaf, which first opened in 1885, has played basketball for close to a century, Perez said. They often play other schools for the deaf but<\/span> also play \u201chearing\u201d teams. Last year, the boys went to a camp hosted by the Arizona School for the Deaf in Tucson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted them to be exposed to other hearing kids, so they get a little bit of both worlds,\u201d Perez said Wednesday through one of three interpreters with the team. \u201cHonestly, (the camps) are quite similar. The drills are similar.\u201d<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t have issues and temper tantrums that the average teenager has. Five of the School for the Deaf kids are high-school<\/span> aged, three<\/span> are middle schoolers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want our kids to see that they\u2019re just the same as all the hearing kids. … They behave the same. They think the same. They\u2019re normal kids,\u201d Perez said.<\/p>\n

The camp, with 100-plus players from the Four Corners, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, rolled along pretty normally. Interpreters \u2013 employees of the School for the Deaf \u2013 accommodated the needs of the deaf youths, who were spread throughout the gym, as best they could.<\/p>\n

At one point, everyone gathered for a dunk competition, in which Thompson and Hicks participated. It was all in fun, with a lot of cheering, particularly when the FLC players took their turns. Cheering wasn\u2019t always clapping \u2013 the deaf also cheer by holding their arms up and twisting their hands.<\/p>\n

Hicks, a varsity player last year, said he was enjoying the camp and having fun, although there\u2019s a little less communication at this camp than a deaf players camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make new friends, too, and we can learn from them and learn from the experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Orlando Obeso<\/span> was working hard in his black T-shirt and gym shorts. He looked as if he could be one of the coaches, but he was one of the interpreters. As coach Hofman explained a technique involved in boxing out for a rebound, Obeso kept pace. He not only signed<\/span> Hofman\u2019s words, but also demonstrated the technique: Keeping your fingers spread makes your arm stiffer and stronger.<\/p>\n

There are difficulties coaching deaf kids during a game, said Perez, who is the girls\u2019 team coach. (The boys\u2019 coach was not able to attend the camp.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is it\u2019s hard to get their attention while they\u2019re playing,\u201d Perez said. \u201cWe have to wave our hands trying to get their attention. Hearing kids, they can hear the coach yelling to them: \u2018Watch your back! Watch your back! … Screen!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they\u2019ve gotta<\/span> learn to predict, to know where coach<\/span> is in case they need to look. So, they work it out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Yes, there are difficulties to overcome, but deaf basketball players can set their sights high. In 2008, Lance Allred, who has 75-80 percent hearing loss, became the first legally deaf player in the NBA. He had a short stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers.<\/p>\n

After a difficult season last year, the New Mexico School for the Deaf boys<\/span> team has some work to do. Maybe a visit to the FLC camp will make a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see they have improved since they got here,\u201d Perez said of her players. \u201cThe next two years, watch out.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there was a divide in the camp, it wasn\u2019t obvious. Hearing-able and hearing-impaired players mingled so well that to an outsider, it was nearly impossible to tell who was who. For all the youths, it was an eye-opening experience, FLC coach Pietrack said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was open arms on both ends,\u201d Pietrack said. \u201cIt was an incredible experience having them.\u201d<\/p>\n

johnp@durangoherald.com. John Peel writes a weekly human-interest column.<\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/durangoherald.com\/article\/20140615\/COLUMNISTS04\/140619676\/-1\/s<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than hoops camp Fort Lewis College, school for deaf learn how to communicate June 15, 2014 Deven Thompson halted his dribble and quickly pushed up a 15-foot shot over camp coach Matthias Weissl during a one-on-one drill. A bit…<\/p>\n

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