Chance is ready for baseball

I signed Chance up for baseball this summer again. The P.E. teacher at school has made sure to let us know on more than one occasion that Chance has a great arm. We would sign Chance up to play baseball even if the P.E. teacher had not let us know she thought he has a great arm, but it will be interesting to watch him play this year and see his talent. Chane will be in machine pitch this year which means a machine will be rhrowing the balls to the hitters. His dad took him out to throw some balls and told me he was quite impressed.

Chance's new coach called this afternoon to tell us when the first practice will be. Unfortunately, it is on the same day as Chance's first pinewood derby in Cub Scouts and I'm quite certain that Chance will not miss racing his car.

I had a moment where I wondered if I should mention to the coach that Chance is deaf. But I thought, "No, I will not prejudice him before he meets Chance."

I will let Chance speak for himself. He will show the coach that he is like anyone else and that his deafness does not define him or his abilities. This is what we have done traditionally for past few years now. We don't tell anyone that Chance is deaf when signing him up for city programs. We let the coach know on the first day of practice or the first game. Then Chance just goes out there and proves that he is just like any other kid on the team. There is no hand wringing about having a deaf child on the team or prejudice that develops before Chance even plays.

Chance's deafness has never proven to be a problem in sports. He just gets into the game and plays. He has to pay a little more attention and not daydream out on the field when he plays baseball as he does not hear everything due to the space between the bases, the wind and the cheering etc. But Chance does a good job and likes to play.

When Chance was first diagnosed as being deaf, he played t-ball and his dad or I would stand out near first or third base and help him know when to run. The kids all ran with the baseball helmet on and Chance could not hear through it with his hearing aids. Plus, he was just learning the game. One of us will still frequently be a base coach helping the kids know when to run, but Chance usually already knows.