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USADSF Spotlight with Noah - US Deaflympian, Elijah Gold

Noah: Hello! Welcome to USADSF Spotlight with Noah, I am Noah Valencia. Today, we will interview a person who has very unique experience as he was involved with Winter AND Summer Deaflympics, in ice hockey and soccer. So I will ask him a few questions relating to his experiences and to discover what is the difference between these two events.

Noah: How did you find your passion for ice hockey and soccer? Which was first? Or did it happen at the same time?

Elijah: I remember when I was a little boy, 7 or 8 years old at that time, my Dad asked me if I wanted to play soccer. I thought about it and said sure and went ahead, joined the hearing team and I played. The same thing happened with hockey, too. My Dad also asked me if I wanted to play and I said sure which led me to joining a team and working on my skating and hockey skills. My dad built an outdoor ice rink in my backyard at my home on the side. My dad constructed everything along with the wood floor for the rink covered with thick plastic sheets in the middle. Then he would cover it with water and let it freeze. So I came over and played there every day. It was always that during the winter time, every year. But when it was springtime or fall time, there was no ice on the rink so I used the rink without ice to play soccer. I would use the walls as my “teammates” where I could work on my soccer skills. I would kick the ball toward the wall and it would bounce back to me as if it was passed to me. I put up a net goal where I would kick the ball towards it. Everyday was like that. I played these two sports almost everyday depending on the season, spring, fall and winter while growing up. I really enjoyed playing.

Image: 1989 Summer Deaflympics at New Zealand, Getting the ball from an opponent on the United Kingdom team.

Noah: You know, hockey is perfect for winter sports and soccer is perfect for summer, spring, and fall season so you had a perfect mixture of both. As an athlete, you immersed yourself with ice hockey and soccer on a Deaflympics level, are you able to describe the “culture” of each sport? Ice hockey and soccer? Is it the same or is it different?

Elijah: My experience relating to hockey and soccer at Deaflympics was different in their own ways. As for soccer, I grew up playing soccer with hearing teams and for deaf schools. I played against various deaf schools so I had experiences with playing against deaf athletes, like me. So when it came to playing soccer at the Deaflympics, I felt the athletes were like me, being deaf, play against each other. But for ice hockey, it was totally different. I played with a hearing team only. There was no deaf school that provided an ice hockey team. So when it was time to play ice hockey at the Deaflympics, to play against deaf teams, as a goalie, I loved to analyze the opponents. I was fascinated to see how they communicated with each other, signing while holding their sticks. I had never seen that while growing up on a hockey team where players would just speak with a straight face. I was distracted during the game because I was not used to the opponents signing during games. This deaf experience was totally different, seeing. more facial expressions on players during the game. I truly enjoyed this deaf experience of ice hockey, taking place only once every 4 years.

IMAGE: 1991 Winter Deaflympics at Banff - with his USA Ice Hockey team.

Noah: That's a huge difference between two sports. You played hockey in Northeastern University in Boston, correct? How did you communicate with your teammates and what was that experience like? How did you transfer that communication from hearing team to deaf team on Deaflympics level?

Elijah: A year before I enrolled at Northeastern University (NU), I grew up on a travel team, but before that very year, I played at junior A league where our team would play against all Canada teams in Ontario for one year. During that year, I had graduated from deaf school so I decided that I would take a one year break from school to focus on my hockey career in Ontario, Canada. That was when my skills really improved. Then, I planned to have my second year of taking a year off at Ontario, but I changed my mind and decided to enroll at NU. Then I played there for a few games as they are very competitive. There is a huge difference between university level hockey and club level hockey. As for club level, I averaged playing 50-60 games a year. But for university hockey level, they only play approximately 25 games so the pressure is heavy to compete. How did I communicate with my teammates? Truly, I was goalie so my job was just to stop the puck from being scored. So, I did not really communicate as much as my teammates needed to. That was a memorable experience. I felt very honored to be part of that NU hockey team. I was part of the program for three years and it was a good experience. Some of my teammates made it to NHL (National Hockey League) and many of those played in minor professional hockey league level all over the United States and internationally. That was my memorable experience at NU.

Noah: Wow! What an amazing experience! Do you have any word of advice or inspirational story that you wish to share with us?

Elijah: My advice for you all is that if you have the passion for any sports that you love, go for it. Enjoy it. You will get there. When you play Deaflympics, that is a rich experience in your life. I promise you.

Noah: Agreed. The experience of Deaflympics cannot be replaced at all. Impossible.

Thank you, Elijah Gold, for your time to be interviewed today. Until then, so long.

Noah: Hello! Welcome to USADSF Spotlight with Noah, I am Noah Valencia. Today, we will interview a person who has very unique experience as he was involved with Winter AND Summer Deaflympics, in ice hockey and soccer. So I will ask him a few questions relating to his experiences and to discover what is the difference between these two events.

Noah: How did you find your passion for ice hockey and soccer? Which was first? Or did it happen at the same time?

Elijah: I remember when I was a little boy, 7 or 8 years old at that time, my Dad asked me if I wanted to play soccer. I thought about it and said sure and went ahead, joined the hearing team and I played. The same thing happened with hockey, too. My Dad also asked me if I wanted to play and I said sure which led me to joining a team and working on my skating and hockey skills. My dad built an outdoor ice rink in my backyard at my home on the side. My dad constructed everything along with the wood floor for the rink covered with thick plastic sheets in the middle. Then he would cover it with water and let it freeze. So I came over and played there every day. It was always that during the winter time, every year. But when it was springtime or fall time, there was no ice on the rink so I used the rink without ice to play soccer. I would use the walls as my “teammates” where I could work on my soccer skills. I would kick the ball toward the wall and it would bounce back to me as if it was passed to me. I put up a net goal where I would kick the ball towards it. Everyday was like that. I played these two sports almost everyday depending on the season, spring, fall and winter while growing up. I really enjoyed playing.

Image: 1989 Summer Deaflympics at New Zealand, Getting the ball from an opponent on the United Kingdom team.

Noah: You know, hockey is perfect for winter sports and soccer is perfect for summer, spring, and fall season so you had a perfect mixture of both. As an athlete, you immersed yourself with ice hockey and soccer on a Deaflympics level, are you able to describe the “culture” of each sport? Ice hockey and soccer? Is it the same or is it different?

Elijah: My experience relating to hockey and soccer at Deaflympics was different in their own ways. As for soccer, I grew up playing soccer with hearing teams and for deaf schools. I played against various deaf schools so I had experiences with playing against deaf athletes, like me. So when it came to playing soccer at the Deaflympics, I felt the athletes were like me, being deaf, play against each other. But for ice hockey, it was totally different. I played with a hearing team only. There was no deaf school that provided an ice hockey team. So when it was time to play ice hockey at the Deaflympics, to play against deaf teams, as a goalie, I loved to analyze the opponents. I was fascinated to see how they communicated with each other, signing while holding their sticks. I had never seen that while growing up on a hockey team where players would just speak with a straight face. I was distracted during the game because I was not used to the opponents signing during games. This deaf experience was totally different, seeing. more facial expressions on players during the game. I truly enjoyed this deaf experience of ice hockey, taking place only once every 4 years.

IMAGE: 1991 Winter Deaflympics at Banff - with his USA Ice Hockey team.

Noah: That's a huge difference between two sports. You played hockey in Northeastern University in Boston, correct? How did you communicate with your teammates and what was that experience like? How did you transfer that communication from hearing team to deaf team on Deaflympics level?

Elijah: A year before I enrolled at Northeastern University (NU), I grew up on a travel team, but before that very year, I played at junior A league where our team would play against all Canada teams in Ontario for one year. During that year, I had graduated from deaf school so I decided that I would take a one year break from school to focus on my hockey career in Ontario, Canada. That was when my skills really improved. Then, I planned to have my second year of taking a year off at Ontario, but I changed my mind and decided to enroll at NU. Then I played there for a few games as they are very competitive. There is a huge difference between university level hockey and club level hockey. As for club level, I averaged playing 50-60 games a year. But for university hockey level, they only play approximately 25 games so the pressure is heavy to compete. How did I communicate with my teammates? Truly, I was goalie so my job was just to stop the puck from being scored. So, I did not really communicate as much as my teammates needed to. That was a memorable experience. I felt very honored to be part of that NU hockey team. I was part of the program for three years and it was a good experience. Some of my teammates made it to NHL (National Hockey League) and many of those played in minor professional hockey league level all over the United States and internationally. That was my memorable experience at NU.

Noah: Wow! What an amazing experience! Do you have any word of advice or inspirational story that you wish to share with us?

Elijah: My advice for you all is that if you have the passion for any sports that you love, go for it. Enjoy it. You will get there. When you play Deaflympics, that is a rich experience in your life. I promise you.

Noah: Agreed. The experience of Deaflympics cannot be replaced at all. Impossible.

Thank you, Elijah Gold, for your time to be interviewed today. Until then, so long.

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