Devon becomes first deaf county rugby team
They are the first county side dedicated to deaf and hard of hearing players.
Until recently, deaf and hard of hearing players in Devon would have had to play at international level to compete with and against players like themselves.
Alternatively, they could play with their local club, but this would mean they are playing with hearing players.
However, the players now have a dedicated county side that allows them to play together at a level that doesn’t require them to be internationals.
Team manager Mark Lond said: “We just thought it be a good idea to see if there's any need out there to get a deaf rugby team together purely for a county level.”
“Not specifically paying county fixtures, but somewhere where they could come together as a community and play with their peers and get some game time with people who they can relate to a lot more.”
They started with 11 players at the first session and now have 28 who wish to play games.
The team played their first game a couple of weeks ago, on 5 October against Exmouth 3rd team and while they lost 17-12, the fixture was as competitive as it was significant.
“The only differences were a couple of hand signals and the refereeing having to hold a flag as well as a whistle so players knew went to stop,” said Mark.
“They've all massively bought into it. So much so that seven of our number who never considered rugby an option for them up until this point, but now they can see that playing with their peers is something they like to do and they're going forward with it.”
Another fixture is planned for Friday 25 October at Teignmouth RFC against Looseheadz, the mental health charity.
Both teams see this as an opportunity to showcase what rugby is about and the benefits that come from playing together.
Mark explained: “Whether it be for disability sport or for the hard of hearing coming together or for people with mental health issues they can all get together, play a game with like-minded people, have a drink afterwards, socialise and go away in a much better, happier place.”
The hope is that in the future other counties will follow suit and develop their own deaf teams, and one day there may be fixtures to play around the country.
“Hopefully this would lead onto some of our players who have never thought of rugby before being able to make step up to international games,” said Mark.
“That would be the ultimate, to see someone that started just playing with their mates going on to win international cap – that would be truly superb.”
