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| Chelsea Jackson shows her women's basketball gold medal from the 20th Deaflympic Games. |
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| Chelsea Jackson enjoys the closing ceremonies at Olympic Park in Melbourne, Australia. |
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| Chelsea Jackson (No. 6, fourth from the left) and her U.S.A. women's basketball teammates |
February 2, 2005
Hesston College basketball player
Chelsea Jackson says she had an amazing experience as a member of
the U.S. women's basketball team that played in the 20th Deaflympic
Games last month. And she has a gold medal to prove it.
More than 3,000 athletes from
more than 80 countries competed in the Deaflympics held in Melbourne,
Australia, January 5-16.
"It's just like the Olympics,
" Jackson explained, "but athletes are deaf or hard-of-hearing."
She said the Deaflympic Games was organized by the International Olympic
Federation about 80 years ago.
"It was awesome to experience
living in the deaf world," she continued. "I actually caught
everything that was said.
"I thought it was especially
neat how the team huddled and watched another player or coach Ron
Johnson (also deaf) communicate in sign language," she said.
"I learned some sign language when I was a child, then picked
it up pretty quick while in Australia."
Contrast that to Jackson living
in the hearing world, where, even with a cochlear implant, Jackson
often misses out on what's being said, especially in large groups.
"I can't find words to describe
what it meant to me to be able to communicate with a big group of
people while there," she said.
Jackson estimates she averaged
20 minutes of playing time in each 40-minute basketball game. "We
had 12 good players, so we rotated in and out," she said.
The U.S. team, sponsored by the
USA Deaf Sports Federation, defeated Sweden 89-75 in the championship
game January 15.
Earlier, the team defeated New
Zealand, Lithuania, Japan, and Ukraine to make it to the championship
game. In the five games, Jackson averaged 5 points, 1.8 assists, and
2.2 rebounds.
Chelsea left for Melbourne Dec.
26, and the team practiced for about 10 days before their first game
January 6. Her parents, Bill and Carolene Jackson, along with her
sister Stephanie, and her high school basketball coach Kim Roof (a
close family friend), caught all but the first game. She returned
to Hesston Jan. 18.
The invitation to participate
first came via an e-mail to Hesston College women's basketball coach
Joel Kauffman toward the end of Jackson's freshman year last year.
She and the team first practiced together last October in Tucson,
Ariz.
Jackson, 20, was the youngest
player on the team. The oldest was 38. "We formed a close bond
in three weeks," she said.
Jackson made many other new friends.
"God has been good to me, allowing me to go to Australia to meet
people just like me," she said. "Some of my new friends
and I talked about how amazing it was that he brought us together
in Melbourne to form friendships that will last a long time."
Of course, Jackson is glad to
be back on campus with her Hesston College friends and her teammates
on the women's basketball team.
The next Deaflympics will be held
in four years. Will she go? "I hope so," she said with her
usual grin.