Every time Cora Roberts takes to the pitch with Niwot soccer, she stands out among the rest of her team. The 16-year-old junior has hearing loss in both ears, meaning she often has to communicate with her hands instead of her voice.
Her coaches throughout the years have always made the necessary adjustments, with some going as far as to learn sign language to supplement what she can’t pick up through her hearing aids, but none have provided an experience quite like the one she had with the USA Deaf Soccer Youth National Team this summer.
For a few weeks, Roberts had the chance to practice and scrimmage with teenagers from all over the country, all of whom have some level of hearing loss. The experience, her mother Kelsey said, was eye-opening.