Liberty senior hurdles hearing impairment

By Jared Harmon

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008 | 6:55 p.m.

One of the biggest thrills of a high school football player's career is hearing his name announced over the speakers after making a big play.

But Liberty's Brandon Carey will never get to experience that feeling. He'll never hear the whistle sound to start the game or the thunderous crack of a big hit.

Born deaf, Carey has not let that stop him from receiving significant field time for the Patriots.

Carey, a senior defensive lineman, came to Liberty last year when the Clark County School District's program for hearing impaired students moved from Valley to Liberty. The move was too late for Carey to join the football team as a junior.

"It's always been my dream to play football," Carey said through an interpreter. "My family has always encouraged me. I want to be a role model for other deaf students. I want them to see they can still be involved in sports — any sport."

Carey said it has not been easy learning the sport. Without the ability to hear the whistle, he has to remain attentive at all times to what is happening on the field to determine when the play has ended.

Liberty coach Lou Markouzis said Carey has a few advantages over his teammates. While defensive linemen typically struggle with jumping offsides or being pulled off by a deceptive snap count, Markouzis said Carey has to watch the ball.

"Brandon is a very hard worker who really loves being out here. Other than an interpreter there are no other special considerations made for him," Markouzis said. "He works as hard as anyone. He's improved every week and I think part of that is he's a very visual learner."

Communication with his coach and teammates has been the biggest hurdle. Carey has a difficult time reading lips and very few of his teammates know sign language.

Markouzis said he and his assistant coaches try to provide as many demonstrations as possible rather than simply describing the plays they want. He has also used a dry erase board on the field or sent a text message to Carey's phone.

"It can really get frustrating but (Markouzis) does a good job of knowing how to get his point across," Carey said. "I've taught the coaches a couple of signs they can use. It's not that bad. I like that when he's mad I can see it on his face but he can't really yell at me."

Junior safety Chanston Kahoaka is one of the few Patriots who knows some sign language and said the barrier hasn't alienated Carey from his teammates.

"You can't even really tell he's deaf," Kahoaka said. "He reads lips a lot better than he thinks he does. Most of the time you can't even tell that he's deaf. He's probably the most talkative guy on the team. He's always joking around and having fun."

Markouzis said Carey brings more to the team than just a solid option on the defensive line. He said Carey's positive attitude has been contagious and his ability to overcome his impairment has been inspirational.

"Having Brandon on the team has been a great learning experience for all of us," Markouzis said. "It puts things in perspective. Brandon has faced adversity for years and has come out on top. It makes it tough to complain about what's going on in your life when you see how well he faces his challenges every day."

Jared Harmon can be reached at 990-8922 or jared.harmon@hbcpub.com.