Saint Mary's Magazine Spring 2004 - Saint Mary's University of ...
Saint Mary's Magazine Spring 2004 - Saint Mary's University of ...
Saint Mary's Magazine Spring 2004 - Saint Mary's University of ...
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SPORTS NEWS<br />
<strong>Saint</strong> Mary’s <strong>University</strong> freshman goalie<br />
Justin Simmons has been deaf since the<br />
age <strong>of</strong> 18 months, when spinal<br />
meningitis cost him his hearing. The<br />
obstacle, however, hasn’t kept him from<br />
making a name for himself at the<br />
collegiate — and world — level.<br />
Just<br />
one<br />
<strong>of</strong> the<br />
guys<br />
SMU goalie<br />
Justin Simmons<br />
doesn’t let<br />
deafness keep<br />
him <strong>of</strong>f the ice<br />
They line up across the goal line<br />
for the player introductions.<br />
“Starting in goal for the<br />
Cardinals, a freshman from<br />
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire,<br />
number 31, Justin Simmons …”<br />
Fellow goalie Ryne Ess taps<br />
Simmons on the pads, prompting<br />
Simmons to skate out to the blue<br />
line, amidst a thunderous ovation<br />
from the <strong>Saint</strong> Mary’s <strong>University</strong><br />
faithful.<br />
It’s an experience every college<br />
hockey player cherishes — to hear<br />
those cheers, to feel that rush <strong>of</strong><br />
adrenaline as hordes <strong>of</strong> people<br />
stand and cheer as your name is<br />
announced.<br />
The feeling is indescribable.<br />
It’s also impossible for<br />
Simmons.<br />
He’s deaf.<br />
“It’s not as complicated as<br />
people might think,” said Simmons,<br />
who has been deaf since the age <strong>of</strong><br />
18 months, when spinal meningitis<br />
cost him his hearing. “What most<br />
people have a hard time<br />
understanding is that, other than the<br />
fact that I can’t hear, I’m just like<br />
everyone else.”<br />
On the ice, however, he’s no<br />
ordinary Joe — not by a long shot.<br />
Simmons grew up playing<br />
youth hockey in his hometown <strong>of</strong><br />
Wolfeboro, N.H., switching between<br />
goalie and forward until the age <strong>of</strong><br />
12, when he decided it was time to<br />
stick to one or the other. Thanks to<br />
some fancy new equipment<br />
purchased by his father, Simmons<br />
chose goalie.<br />
“My dad has had a big<br />
influence on my hockey career,”<br />
said Simmons, noting that his father<br />
was his coach — and interpreter —<br />
all the way up to high school. “He<br />
was always there for me, every day<br />
in practice, signing for me so that I<br />
could understand what was going<br />
on.”<br />
An all-state selection and the<br />
team’s MVP as a senior at<br />
Kingswood High School, Simmons<br />
also played junior hockey for the<br />
Exeter Junior Seawolves and the<br />
Boston Junior Bulldogs.<br />
Unlike many <strong>of</strong> his current<br />
SMU teammates, however, Simmons<br />
didn’t make the step from junior<br />
hockey to the collegiate level — he<br />
made one more stop in between.<br />
The Olympics.<br />
22 SAINT MARY’S MAGAZINE SPRING <strong>2004</strong>