Deaf Football Coach Inspires Mayfield Students

Students from Oasis Academy Mayfield, visited the first Deaf Football Coach in the UK, Ben Lampert, who works in the Brentford Football Club, in London last week. Deaf students and hearing peers participated in the event.

Since the beginning of December, the school has been promoting the Deaf Identity and Awareness programme. The implementation of the programme has begun with Deaf Awareness assemblies delivered to 900 students, organised by Chloe and Sophie’s Special Ears Fund (CSSEF), a Deaf children’s charity.

Principal Ms C Taylor, said; "We are proud to be an inclusive school and so are enormously grateful that our students were given this opportunity to celebrate deaf identity and awareness. The students and staff involved with the project have been inspired by the work of Ben Lampert and exploring the pathways available to them."

Born profoundly deaf, Lampert had a 15 year football playing career during which he represented Great Britain across the world and now he coaches hearing teams at BFC. Lampert communicates using British Sign Language (BSL) with simultaneous translation by a BSL interpreter. During the visit, the coach had a very optimistic and encouraging message to the students: "Nothing is impossible!” Lampert believes deaf children can achieve whatever they set their minds to, and he uses his life experience as an example: “The word ‘barrier’ does not exist to me. I only ever saw the opportunities and then went ahead and grabbed them”. 

Lampert's life and career journey inspired several participants. “It was cool to meet someone who is deaf and got such success. I didn’t know deaf people could succeed like that”, said Henry in Year 8. For Baylee, a Year 11 student, it was the first time he met a deaf BSL user who doesn't speak. He believes that Lampert's career is a good example of hard-work and achievement. “If you are deaf, you can still achieve the great things you want.” Harvey, from Year 10, agrees with the idea, "Ben showed that we can achieve anything we want if we work hard."

Among the activities at the Brentford club, Oasis students participated in the workshop 'Careers in Sport', taught by Lampert. “I wanted the children to see the kind of pathway there is for this type of career and to show them that being deaf is not a barrier to being in sports”, stated the Deaflympics gold medallist. Baylee said he was interested in this workshop and learned about different activities and training opportunities, “For example, post-16 football training.", he noted. The students had the chance to attend a training session of the 16-19 team, led by Lampert. Lennon, Year 10, said he was impressed by the skills of aspiring footballers: "One of the players told us that we need motivation always and we should never give up. I like this advice.

New opportunities for deaf children and their families will continue in 2025. A good example of this is the BSL Fest in Southampton, which will be held next April. The BSL festival includes a variety of free events, such as skills workshops circus and arts. The BSL Fest uses BSL with simultaneous translation into spoken English, making it accessible to both Deaf and hearing communities.