TThe United States Deaf Women’s National Team (USDWNT) might be the best team you didn’t know about, having won every major tournament they’ve entered. But this story isn’t all about silverware.
When captain Kate Ward led her team onto the field in Colorado in early June to make history as the first nationally televised U.S. Extended National Team, the tears weren’t just about the game against Australia. They were about a life-changing journey.
“I get teary now when I think about it,” Ward, who joined the team in 2009, told the Guardian. “We were all crying on the way to the stadium, just overwhelmed by, ‘Wow, look where we are now.’ To share that moment with them was once in a lifetime.”
The match, part of a doubleheader with the USWNT, marked the first time the USDWNT could defend its nearly flawless 37-0-1 record on home soil. Despite four Deaflympics and three World Cup titles, the team had only been playing under U.S. Soccer for two years.
For head coach and USWNT World Cup winner Amy Griffin and Joy Fawcett, her assistant and former teammate, the moment was as poignant as it was for the players. “It caught us off guard,” Griffin recalled. “The players walked away [on to the pitch] with the deaf children holding hands. I turned around. I thought, ‘Joy can’t see me cry.’ It was more than I ever expected.
“I’m not deaf and I’m very aware of that. But at that moment, man, I felt like I was one of them.”
When Griffin joined the team in 2016, she decided that the fight for recognition required the support of someone with whom she had been through it all before.[Joy and I] had been through hell and came back to the national team. When we played in 1991, it was where the deaf team is now. No awareness, not much support and not much programming. Nobody knew us. But that’s how we became really good friends.
“I learned through this team that you have to have allies. You have to have a group of sisters and brothers who see your vision. It didn’t feel too risky because there were a lot of people taking risks with me. I would put all the plane tickets on my credit card and the players would have to pay me back monthly until I had zero balance.”
Until their victory at the World Championships in Malaysia last October, all of the USDWNT’s tournaments were funded through fundraising. While Griffin was going into debt, Ward was often responsible for the logistics of travel and accommodation.
“When we first started, they asked us to bring white T-shirts and black shorts to camp,” Ward says. “We usually had to raise around $5,000 per tournament.”
But just as individual achievements pale in comparison to the progress the team has made in 20 years, the players found purpose beyond their own struggles through the sad story of Malia Jusczyk. “She was nine when she came to our camp in 2017,” Ward says. “She wore hearing aids because neuroblastoma had damaged her hearing.
“When she was in school, she didn’t feel comfortable with her hearing aids because people looked at her funny, so she came to camp with her hair covering her hearing aids. We hugged her and by the end of camp, her hearing aids were visible to the whole world.
“Unfortunately, she had a relapse and passed away in 2023. We had a shirt made for her and that shirt was with us at every game and on every bench. Moments like these are really humbling because they show that it’s about more than football.”
But more than providing representation for others, the USDWNT has created a space of growth for the players themselves. “For a long time, I ignored the fact that I was deaf and had a disability,” Ward says. “I just wanted to fit in. I’ve always lived in a gray area. I never felt like I could hear well enough, and I didn’t grow up in the deaf world.
“When I joined this team, I was surrounded by people who completely understood my life experience and the different struggles I feel in the hearing world. It has absolutely changed my development, my confidence, my desire to lead and make the world more accessible.”
Now, the USDWNT is determined to grow the game, and the increased media attention from their first televised game has provided a boost. But with that comes a lot of responsibility. “We feel a lot of pressure to keep winning because we understand that’s what gave us the platform that we have,” Ward says. “We’re successful and America loves winners, so it’s a double-edged sword.”
Griffin, however, wants to see more competition between nations to grow the sport. For now, the USDWNT will remain out of harm’s way on the field, but they have a path mapped out for the impact teams can have off the field. “That’s something we’ve told the Australian players,” Ward says. “This is the most special time you’ll have. As a team, you can create the culture and decide how you give back to the community, so embrace the journey.”
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