This Deaf High School Football Team is Inspirational!

There’s a high school football team making history in Southern California. It completed its best ever season this past fall that included an 11-0 winning streak, according to ABC News. The team is also Southern California’s only public high school team for the hearing impaired.

A winning streak
The Varsity Cubs was founded 68 years ago as part of the athletic program at the California School for the Deaf. Traditionally regarded as the underdogs, the team endured many losing seasons. There were times when visiting teams mocked the players, convinced that they would lose the game, according to another report by the Press Democrat. That’s why this year’s team was thrilled with their astonishing winning streak that made national headlines.

However, the team’s unexpected season was no real surprise to the players who put the time and energy into working hard, persevering during each practice. Even during the pandemic, they took their efforts seriously and were determined to turn their team’s reputation around. 

Furthermore, the team credits its season’s success to the genuine bond and chemistry that exists between the players. Enos Zornova, one of the Cubs’ wide-receivers, told CNN through an American Sign Language (ASL) translator that as a team, “We’ve got this sense of brotherhood amongst us. We’re a family.”

Here’s a preview from a Cubs practice from last night on @CBSLA ❤️ ???? https://t.co/qTSKhK7ERU

— Nicole Comstock (@ComstockNEWS) November 19, 2021

The players and coach are all deaf, while the teams they play against are all-hearing, reports ABC news. The Varsity Cubs, however, knew that not being able to hear doesn’t need to be a disadvantage, even though the team had previously been viewed as an easier team to play against. Using ASL to sign plays on the field to one another,  for instance,  leaves their rivals in the dark about their strategies.

A sense of pride that endures
The team’s stunning season came to an end on November 27th 2021 when the Cubs were defeated by the Canoga Park Faith Baptists during the championship game, as reported by the LA Times. Although the Varsity Cubs won’t be making it to the finals, the team has given supporters in California and those further afield a real sense of pride. 

“It’s inspiring for the deaf community quite honestly. 11 and 0 we’ve never experienced this being this far in playoffs,” their coach Kieth Adams told ABC News through an ASL translator, and “the community is so excited, the morale has been uplifted.” 

The team hopes that its story inspires others to grasp that being hearing impaired shouldn’t limit ambitions, and show that deaf people can do anything. The team members are looking forward to challenging their fellow team members at next year’s season.