RUGBY NEWS - The SA Deaf Rugby series kicked off last week at St Stithians College in Randburg, Gauteng where Laszlo Maya from Graaff-Reinet played for South Africa. The South African Deaf Rugby Association (SADRA) made history this past weekend by hosting its first-ever international deaf rugby series.
The sevens rugby tournament is seen as a groundbreaking initiative for both the deaf sports community and the country. Last year the World Deaf Rugby Sevens Championship was hosted in Argentina.
The tournament featured rugby teams representing Australia, England and Japan. The South African team consisted of players from all over the country who were chosen after SADRA conducted trials which enabled the best players to showcase their skills. The competition had a hearing classification of a 40dB loss in order for players to be eligible.
The Deaf Rugby tournament hosted a 7s and 10s rugby match as part of it's August Internationals. The 7's ran from 3 to 4 August and the 10's from 7 to 8 August.
Maya played in the 10s tournament, between South Africa, Australia and England.
The trials to represent the SA Deaf rugby team were held in Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Western Cape during the first half of the year. Maya travelled to Strand to take part in the Western Cape trials in May this year, and subsequently made the SA team. It was one of his greatest experiences and he thoroughly enjoyed it. "Representing your country is always special. I've always played with and against normal-hearing players, so to be surrounded by players with whom I share a life experience, was something I really looked forward to," says Maya.
"I was curious as to how we will communicate on-field and execute our plays. People with hearing loss do not all fall under one category. There are different degrees of hearing loss, coupled with the different means of communication. So we needed to find common ground. Sign language was the best way to communicate plays and get everyone on the same page. Those who do not know sign language were taught the simple signs prior to matches," he says.
Maya played two matches on Wednesday 7 August, and another two on the Thursday. Maya scored tries on both days.
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