Iowa Baseball Camp for the Deaf brings accessibility to the sport
By Jodi Long
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JOHNSTON, Iowa (KCCI) — Every summer for nearly a decade, the Iowa Baseball Camp for the Deaf helps children experience America’s favorite pastime. The free week-long camp welcomes more than two dozen deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes to Johnston’s Little League Park. Camp organizers say the kids come for the baseball but keep coming back for the comradery.
“Everyone’s on equal footing. It’s full access here. There is no barriers, there is no struggling, no frustrations, just open communication,” said camp director Dylan Heuer. “We can focus on normal baseball stuff. The communication and access is all there already, so they can fully integrate with each other.”
Interpreters join the athletes on the field, helping bring the game to life using American Sign Language or ASL. Athletes like Sophie Barney sign in addition to wearing cochlear implants to help hear better. At this camp, Barney doesn’t feel different.
“It makes me feel happy because I love seeing other kids just like us,” she said with a smile.
On Thursday, the Iowa Cubs are partnering with the Iowa Baseball Camp for the Deaf for Deaf Culture Night. During the game, I-Cubs players will wear baseball jerseys with the word I-O-W-A spelled out in American Sign Language. Heuer, the camp’s director and Iowa Cubs photographer who is also deaf, designed the jersey’s logo.
“It’s a lifelong dream come true,” Heuer said. “To have a logo in our native language, it’s just an intense feeling! It’s a beautiful language, has wonderful traditions. It’s a bigger culture than people realize.”
According to a 2022 Iowans with Disabilities report, nearly 124,200 people cannot hear or have significant hearing loss.
Members of the Iowa Baseball Camp for the Deaf will throw out the first pitch, sign the national anthem and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” The ASL jerseys worn by the Iowa Cubs will be autographed and auctioned off to benefit the Iowa Baseball Camp for the Deaf.
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