Signing from the sidelines
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PLEASANTON, CALIF.
Step inside the gymnasium at most high school or college level basketball games, and you'll probably hear the coaches yelling instructions to players.
Deb Ayres, a women's basketball coach from the Pleasanton 2nd Ward, Pleasanton California Stake, rarely yells at her players. Instead, she wildly flails her arms or stomps her feet to get players' attention during a game. Why? Sister Ayres coaches a team of women who are deaf at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, Calif.
"This was probably my calling here on earth — to work with young people through basketball. I try to set a good example, and live by Church standards for these students and players," she said. "As I learn more and more about different cultures and different people, I can do our Heavenly Father's work in unique ways."
Sister Ayres' experiences as a basketball coach have taken her all over the United States and many other countries. She has coached both hearing and deaf teams throughout her almost 30-year coaching career. She recently accompanied a group of the 12 top women who are deaf under-21 basketball players from throughout the United States to the 2010 Deaf Basketball World Championships in Lublin, Poland.
While some teams had weeks, or even months, to practice together before the games, a lack of funding prohibited official tryouts or team practices for the U.S. team before traveling to Poland. The players had only two days to get acquainted and practice as a team before the games began. Over the course of the championships, the team played against eight teams from around the world before emerging victorious in the final game against Lithuania on July 3.
In preparation for the World Championships, Sister Ayres developed a list of the top 20 deaf women under-21 basketball players in the country. She contacted the women and their coaches, and the list was whittled down to the 12 players who possessed the skills and determination, as well as the ability to raise the necessary money to travel to Poland for the championship games.
Sister Ayres' inspiring and motivational coaching united the team members and helped them work together for the collective goal of winning the title of World Champions.
As a teacher and coach at the California School for the Deaf, Sister Ayres has had to learn American Sign Language (ASL) in order to teach and communicate with her students. This has brought its own challenges. There is a learning curve in learning any language, and it takes time to become fluent. Her language skills continue to improve and progress, and she is always tickled when she learns a new word or phrase. Sister Ayres' philosophy is echoed at the school — students who are deaf can do anything that hearing students can ... they just speak a different language.
Just a few days after returning home from Poland, she was already back at work coaching her team of girls on the California School for the Deaf basketball team.
She said, "It is inspiring to help these young women achieve such greatness."
