Vanston Middle School in Mesquite has sought to ensure its sports program is open to a wide variety of students, including players who are hearing-impaired.
The middle school’s eighth-grade football team, the Vikings, has two deaf students playing this season, Abner Sanchez and Jay Stephens.
The two players recognize that their hearing impairment makes playing football challenging in an uncommon way. However, neither one of them is letting that stand in the way of playing the game and being a part of the team.
For Sanchez, this is his first time playing football. Sanchez told CBS News that he decided to participate “because my friend wanted me to play football – and I said sure, I’ll play.”
Stephens simply enjoys the game.
“It’s fun and you get [to] tackle a lot of people,” Stephens said.
Kevin Perthuis, head coach of the team, said, “What it means to this team – they are an inspiration – they embody some of our core values.”
“Toughness, resiliency, they embody that,” he continued.
Mesquite ISD encourages participation from students from the hearing-impaired special education department to participate. The Vanston Middle School coaching staff has welcomed the new opportunity.
“We have a great staff of interpreters, and they are here every practice, every game,” Perthuis said. “So, there is a lot of waving, a lot of shouting and a lot of hand signals … and a lot of thumbs up. … and a lot of hand signals we’ve come up with, just me and the players.”
Sanchez and Stephens chose to play football for the love of the game and the team community, but their teammates, their coaches, and their school have all gained from their participation, according to the coach.
“Day in and day out, they come out here and grind it out,” Perthuis said. “These guys are super important to [our] team and program – we also have deaf cheerleaders – we have deaf volleyball players.”
“These guys are [an] inspiration to the entire school,” the coach concluded.
