#usdeaf

A great article about the USDWNT and our struggles to find respect and financial support.

We are the US Deaf Women's National team.

We are the best team you never heard of.

Some action shots from our 1-0 victory over Kansas City Shock. Goal was scored by Felicia Schroeder in 30th minute (penalty kick)

Hey guys it's Maddie I wanted to share you my deaf story! I hope you find it interesting!

 My mom started to notice that something wasn't right when I was about two and half years old. She noticed that I would sit really close to the T.V or have it turned up really loud. I wouldn't respond to her right away, when she called my name three to four times to get my attention. I would talk on the phone only on my right ear instead of my left because I couldn't hear at all out of my left ear. One time, my mom asked me to hold the phone to my left ear and I said "No, I cant, my ear is broken." Thats when she knew something was really wrong. I went to the doctors and got tested. The results came back, not very good. They found out that I was profoundly deaf in my left ear, but partially deaf in my right ear. Ever since then (I was three) I’ve worn a hearing aid.

               When I first had my hearing aid, I hated the feel of it, but I could hear so well I started to leave it in. As I got older I just got used to it. When my family and I moved to Florida, my mom wanted me to attend to a private school. Ever since Pre-K, I have been in private schools and have made great friends. I do want people to know that, I don’t want to be treated differently because of my hearing. I learn like everybody else, even though I have to sit in the front of the class rooms or my teachers sometimes have to repeat what they were saying, but other than that I am treated like every other student.

               Soccer really helped me grow and to be confident. Ever since I was little, all I wanted to do it to play soccer. My dream was to play in college and go pro one day. I didn’t want my hearing impairment to stop me from achieving my dream. I knew if it did, if I gave up, I wouldn’t be the person I knew I could and was suppose to be. Without soccer, I wouldn’t have been confident enough to pull my hair back in a pony tail because then people would stare at my hearing aid. I have to admit, there was a point in my life where I wore my hair down every day to school because I was scared of what people who say or think. But soccer helped me to be strong and confident.

     Hey guys just letting you know that the whole team made it to Turkey! The flight was super long and we all have been up for the past 48 hrs! The time difference is 7 hours, we are super tired. Our hotel is super nice, the view is amazing, and we are next to a mall. We walked in the mall today, and let me tell you.....it was something. There are seriously 800 stores,no joke. 

    The culture here is so different. For example, the food! They have all kinds of different food its really interesting. Also, the cars and the highway, people don't drive safe at all! People are just driving crazy! The clothes here are pretty much like what we wear in america but just more conservative. Their language is so unreal, btw we cant even watch tv because its all in turkish.... great.