Wrestling for Equitable Solutions
By Corrine Morrow, Washington H&V
Anyone who has ever had the chance to work with Keemani Benavides is sure to smile at the mere mention of his name. He was identified as deaf shortly after his first birthday and received bilateral cochlear implants just before he turned four years old. From the start, Keemani has been an energetic sport enthusiast and even taught himself to dribble a basketball before the age of three. As a high school athlete, his real joy comes from playing football as a defensive end and offensive right guard where he averages five sacks per game. This school year, as a freshman wrestler, he was undefeated for his grade level and placed fifth in the 195-pound weight bracket at the district tournament, which qualified him to go the regional tournament. To watch Keemani play football and wrestle is nothing short of exhilarating. He is a Division I scholarship hopeful with dreams of playing in the National Football League (NFL) like one of his inspirations, Derrick Coleman, who is also deaf.
As an all-around athlete, Keemani shines, and is the most comfortable when on the playing field or on the wrestling mat. During football he uses a skull cap under his helmet to hold his processors in place, communicating by sound and sight. However, on the wrestling mat he cannot use his cochlear implant processors due to the physicality of the sport. There has been nothing more challenging for this young man than his struggle to be a deaf wrestler. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” This experience has not only challenged him in his communication, but it has also put him in a position to have to fight for his right to compete equitably with other wrestlers during competition.
Unexpected Challenges
Unlike his wrestling teammates who are hearing and have full access to their coaches, Keemani gains communication access solely through an interpreter who moves around the mat to remain in his line of sight conveying what his coaches are saying to him. For example, if Keemani is down lying on the mat, the interpreter is on his belly signing to Keemani. As Keemani wrestles and moves, the interpreter continuously runs around the mat circle to get into Keemani’s line of sight. To convey the round has ended or that the whistle has blown, Keemani is tapped by his interpreter or the referee with a hand. During a wrestling tournament in a neighboring state recently, tournament officials decided that Keemani’s interpreter would be required to stay in the coach’s corner and would be unable to move to get into Keemani’s line of sight for communication access, resulting in zero communication from coaches during each of his matches .Worse, opposing wrestlers tapped him, tricking Keemani into releasing his grip, thinking that the tap meant the whistle had blown, awarding his opponent escape points. Furthermore, since the interpreter was not allowed in the mat circle, the referees would forget to tap him signaling to cease wrestling, causing concerned parents in the stands to vehemently object as Keemani wrestled on unaware of the whistle. Keemani states, “The referees and people in the stands don’t understand what being deaf is like.”
However frustrating and discouraging an event like this might have been for him, he does not allow these types of experiences to dissuade him. Instead, he and his mother, Michelle Benavides, are using this experience as an opportunity to be proactive in making changes for both Keemani and other D/HH athletes in the future. They are working with Keemani’s high school athletic director, district administrators and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) for changes to be made prior to next season. When asked if these types of experiences make him want to quit sports, he replied, “When I was a little kid, I thought of quitting sports…and just give up…but then I said, no, I’ve got to keep on going!”
Keemani credits his parents, close friends, fellow teammates, interpreter Derek Hardin, his wrestling coach Phil McLean, and other coaches for building up his confidence and believing in him. He also appreciates the willingness of others in sports who have learned to communicate with him on and off the playing field and mat through signs, gestures, and face to face communication.
For other D/HH students, athletes, and non-athletes, Keemani has a word of encouragement for when times get tough, and you feel discouraged. “When I was your age, I felt the same way. My whole life I always felt I was not the same as others. I always felt different. Then one day, I decided to lift my head and raise my chest. I told myself: I’m going to try harder and make new friends and get better at this. If I fail, I will just learn from that mistake and get better next time. I will do the hard work and get better. Don’t give up and never think negative, because if you think negative, you’re never going to succeed. You’ve always got to think positive…and the more you do it, the more you’ll succeed. Never, never in your life tell yourself you “can’t.” You have a dream, and you need to chase after it and you need to achieve that dream. As my dad says, “Think positive! Negative junk in your mind is blocking positive choice!”
We at Washington H&V thank Keemani for his inspiration to others and willingness to want to make a difference for future D/HH students and athletes in Washington state. We’ll be watching and cheering you on. ~