While Elizabeth Dagg refuses to make excuses now, it wasn’t always that way.
There was a time when she used to get upset and use her deafness as an excuse.
In her mind, you had to be able to hear to do things.
“There are two kinds of worlds for me,” the 17-year-old signs to her mother in response to a question. “A deaf world and a hearing world.”
It could be easy enough for Dagg to not even try. After all, who really expects a deaf athlete to play against opponents who have no hearing issues whatsoever, especially at the highest level.
But for Dagg, there are no excuses.
When she laces up her skates and glides across the ice, feverishly back-checking and preventing her opponents from getting a sniff of the net, Dagg is not a hearing-impaired player, but rather, she is a player, and a pretty good one, too.
Dagg credits her mom, Nora, for not allowing her to use the deafness as an excuse, anymore.
“My mom always said to me just try, be strong, have confidence, and don’t give up easily,” she explained.
“Never use it as an excuse to give up; just find a way it will work best.”
With that positive attitude, Dagg has beaten the odds and earned a spot on Team B.C.’s ringette squad for the Canada Winter Games, which run Feb. 11-27 in Halifax. And she hopes this is just a start, perhaps culminating with her representing Canada one day on the world level.
The road to this point has been challenging.
Dagg was diagnosed when she was 14 months old as being deaf.
Her father, Eddie, her grandmother and her youngest brother, are all hard of hearing. Dagg’s mom and other brother have no hearing problems.
When Dagg was five, the family moved to Langley so she could attend Uplands Elementary, which has a program for deaf students.
Dagg will graduate in June from R.E. Mountain Secondary, and she plans on studying to become a dental hygienist.
Growing up, she saw her hearing troubles as a hindrance.
“At first, I always thought ‘why me?’” she said. “But now I have started to accept and realize this is who I am. There is nothing wrong with me.”
While some deaf children’s parents steer them towards sports teams geared specifically to have them play alongside other hearing-impaired athletes, Dagg sees herself as a role model.
“There are a lot of parents who don’t allow their kids to play sports because they are deaf,” she said.
“They are just very protective of their kids and want them to play deaf sports (only).
“I am trying to show them that a deaf person can become an athlete.”
“I know a lot of people who are shocked that I am playing,” she added.
And she is doing a great job of it, too.
The fact she made the Canada Winter Games team — despite communication challenges with her coaches and teammates — has been a struggle.
Four or five years ago, Dagg tried out for an elite ringette team. Encouraged that she would survive final cuts, Dagg was devastated when she didn’t make it.
Talking to one of the assistant coaches later on, she found out the main reason she failed to make the team was the head coach was reluctant to include her because of the communication problems he anticipated.
“He was afraid to work with me,” Dagg said. “And that made me even more upset and took my confidence down.”
Rather than let that be a hindrance, Dagg used it as motivation.
“I thought I have to work though this because this is what my future will be like,” she said.
Team B.C. coach Richard White said it was an easy decision when it came time for the final roster for the Canada Winter Games.
“She came and played incredible, she made this program quite easily,” he said.
Her accomplishments are impressive considering the challenges she faces.
“Playing the game of ringette is so much about communication and (being) vocal, and she is able to excel without having an opportunity to use those skills,” White said.
White added that it is difficult to even tell that Dagg has hearing challenges when you watch her on the ice.
“I think she uses her other senses, her awareness,” he said. “It is amazing to see when she has two or three people on her and she has got control of the ring. (Usually) when someone is triple-teamed, they need someone calling out to them but she knows where everybody is, and never gets in trouble.
“She will find somebody and you are amazed that she can even see the person she passes the ring to.”
Another one of her coaches calls Dagg determined and committed.
“She is probably the best listener on the team,” said Leanne Fawcett, who has coached Dagg every second season at the club level for the past 10 years.
“And she probably listens the best because she has to work harder at it and doesn’t have any outside distractions.”
Dagg is most at ease when she is on the ice.
“When I play ringette, I find I can forget everything and be myself and have no worries,” she explained. “I can do it all on my own. I know what I need to do.”
Ringette is a release from all that may trouble her, whether it be family problems or the general teenage drama to be expected from a high school student.
“I get on the ice and it just picks me up, I feel a lot better,” she said. “I find I have no worries, I am just so relaxed out there, I feel fresh and I enjoy it.”
The game is not without challenges.
For one, there is the matter of the on-ice communication. For example, how can a teammate warn her about an on-rushing opponent.
Another challenge is the dressing room.
While her teammates listen to music and talk, Dagg is left on her own for the most part.
“That is where I get a little sad, because I don’t have much interaction,” she admits.
“I don’t always understand.
“I try to follow what’s going on, but it is hard.”
The deafness brings advantages, too.
On the ice, she finds herself more focused than other players because she is able to tune out all the noise, whether it be the crowd or the chatter between teammates and opponents.
Dagg has improved her vision, reading the ice and being aware of her surroundings.
She has also had to be more vocal, and although it may not be clear, she does make a point to communicate with her goaltender, teammates and coaches.