Partially-deaf high school athlete advocates for himself, inspires others in North Carolina

By Anjali Patel

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    HENDERSONVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Sophomore Elyja Gibbs is picking up new cues this fall at Hendersonville High.

“He’s in tune, looking at signals and knows where he’s supposed to go,” said Hendersonville High head football coach Jim Sosebee. “He’s very attentive to what’s going on around.”

A former JV quarterback, Gibbs is now on varsity defense for the Bearcats.

“This year he stepped into the linebacker and safety role, probably second or third on the team in tackles. He’s all over the field,” Sosebee said.

Gibbs isn’t just a standout on the football field for Hendersonville High — but also on the baseball field. He’s been playing football since he was 5; baseball since he was 6.

His talent is easy to see — his struggle, not so much. While his teammates are listening for play calls, Gibbs is reading, looking for visual cues.

“He’s a really good lip-reader so I try to make sure I’m in front of him when I talk,” Sosebee said.

Gibbs is partially deaf. He was born with hearing problems that doctors never could fix.

“I was very shy before because I thought it was a disability and I thought people were going to think of me different, so I never told anybody,” Gibbs said.

His coaches have always known and found ways to help him. But his teammates were unaware of his struggles until just a few weeks ago, after they read an article about him in the local paper, Blue Ridge Now.

Gibbs’ teammates embraced the news, and haven’t treated him any differently like he once feared.

“I think it’s been a great response because it’s not been any change at all really,” Sosebee said.

“It took some weight off my shoulders for sure,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs is now openly advocating for himself.

“I ask a lot more questions to my teammates now. I’m not afraid to ask them to repeat it and stuff now,” Gibbs said.

He’s an emerging voice on the team, Coach Sosebee said.

“You can see that happening already. You can tell he’s going to be a leader,” Sosebee said.

Gibbs hopes his story inspires others facing obstacles to speak up and not give up.

“Just fight through it. Find another way around it and just keep trying,” Gibbs said.

While you can’t change some challenges, you can adapt, Gibbs explained.

“It’s most definitely an obstacle but sometimes it does help me to zone out all the other players talking smack to me,” Gibbs said, laughing.

He may be tuning out the noise — but he’s always tuned in to the game.

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