England Deaf Rugby Union are for the first time taking men’s and women’s teams to play in South Africa. One of their number – Beth Weller – has shared her story with us and describes how life changing getting involved with the England Deaf rugby set up has been. Having witnessed how isolating deafness can be for an adult, I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it must be for a child. To overcome these difficulties and reach university is incredible to go on from there and play international rugby is fantastic. Here is Beth’s story – [if you can help at all with her crowdfund appeal please do click on one of the links]:
Bethany (Beth) Weller has had hearing loss since birth probably a result of being born prematurely at 25 week. Unfortunately her problems were not diagnosed or even recognised until she was 11. Up to that point she struggled in school because she often didn’t understand what was happening and her teachers labelled her as either lazy or naughty or both, completely failing to see that she was missing half of what was being said. As a child it must be very hard to articulate this.
Her mother kept pushing for hearing tests but doctors considered it was a result of colds and sickness despite the fact that Beth was actually rarely ill.
Finally when she was 11 an audiologist sat her down and explained that she suffers from a rare hearing loss called a cookie bite. She was given an coloured audiogram (which she still has) with cartoon sketches to show the range of decibels and different sounds and area that was missing from her hearing which was in the mid-frequency range. Her hearing loss was only mild, but the gaps that were missing were the phonetics and decibel range where speech happens.
This has got worse over the years and any background noise, like in a school setting, means that she cannot hear what is being said by teachers or classmates.
Hearing loss makes the sufferer feel quite isolated and in those crucial school years Beth had difficulty making friends. At high school things were even worse since there was little to no support for students with hearing loss – a situation which thankfully has changed. However, for Beth her school’s policy was to provide the correct support without making her feel singled out. The reality was they put her desk right out in the front connected to the teacher’s desk making her feel the focal attention of the class and amplified the feeling of being different.
Luckily University was a better experience (Beth has to be credited with a huge amount of determination and hard work to ever get to University) where she received plenty of academic support and the lecturers gave her copies of slides so that she could focus on understanding the content of the lectures..
It was whilst at University that Beth became involved with England Deaf rugby, one of the men’s 1st XV rugby players, who also has a hearing loss, mentioned that they were recruiting for hard of hearing/deaf female players and suggested she go to the next training session. Beth went to her very first training down at Old Albanians RFC and was hooked. (She has now been a proud part of the England squad for 7 years.)
This was also the first time she was able to meet with other men and women with hearing loss and shared a love of rugby. It took awhile to get going but the women’s team eventually played their first match at Cardiff Arms Park, pulling on the jersey for the first time was a special moment and one that she will never forget.
The women’s team has been playing fixtures for several years now and became Deaf 7s Champions in Sydney last year at the World Deaf 7s where men and women’s deaf rugby teams from around the world competed to be crowned World Deaf champions. Beth didn’t make the cut for England and ended up playing for Australia. She had gone out to Australia to play for a Barbarians side, but it fell through two days before the tournament kicked off, one of the administrators emailed her saying that the remaining Barbarians could join up with the Australians. She wore the coveted gold jersey and played against her team mates, which she found both amazing and a bizarre experience.
The tournament was also memorable on a personal level as Beth’s fiancé, who flew with her to Sydney, surprised her by proposing during the fortnight they were there.
Beth’s ambitions for this season, after having reconstructive surgery last year, is to keep pushing for a starting place, in the England side hopefully win her first full international cap and take part in the South Africa Tour in May next year.
Beth has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise the finances to get there. The ten day tour to South Africa will be the first time England Deaf have toured in South Africa and played against South Africa Deaf teams. Both the men and women’s teams will play fixtures against host teams and they are each tasked with raising money to help with the costs.
Beth is very excited for what the season ahead will bring.
A little more information about the England Deaf Rugby Union
England Deaf is a charity fully recognized team by the RFU and provides individuals with hearing loss/deaf to participate in rugby with community fixtures and internationals. They also help integrate deaf/hard of hearing individuals into rugby clubs around the country by providing support for clubs and players. The organisation also promotes Deaf awareness within schools, colleges and local communities.
This will be the first England Deaf tour of South Africa with both the men and women’s teams playing fixtures during the 12 day tour. There is a significant cost provide accommodation, flights, food and support for over 40 players and staff which is why each player has been asked to raise £1500 to assist with this.
The charity is also searching for tour sponsors and partnerships – if this is of interest to your business please contact EDRU through the Twitter page https://twitter.com/deafrugby.
Deafness/hearing loss is a very isolating disability, with research indicating that over 11 million people in the UK alone have a hearing loss. By 2035, it is estimated there’ll be around 15.6 million people – that’s one in five. Furthermore, loneliness and isolation double the risk of depression, anxiety, and dementia.
Being part of deaf rugby and the EDRU has helped Beth to overcome her own personal isolation issues. Having the opportunity to train and play with a team of other people who share the same disability helps them all cope with the daily challenges of being hard of hearing as well as providing a close network of support.
Beth would appreciate any help you can give to enable her to take advantage of this incredible opportunity.
You can find Beth’s Go Fund Me Page here.
