USDB reviving athletics

Normally a 6-foot-5 teenager who loves basketball as much as Jared Beagley does would be the centerpiece of his high school team's offense and the object of college recruiters.

But Beagley didn't have those experiences, in part because he didn't have the opportunity to represent a high school.

The 18-year-old is deaf and because he attends a school that is part of the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind, there weren't the athletic opportunities that his public-school counterparts enjoyed. If he wanted to play sports, it was up to him to find a team.

"For the last couple of years, some of the students have organized a Junior Jazz team and he played on that," said his mother, Rachel Beagley. "We have a hoop here on our street and he plays with neighbors or his brothers."

Boys like Beagley may have more options in the future thanks to the efforts of some administrators from the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind. Last year, the Utah High School Activities Association's board of trustees took the first steps in reviving activities and athletics for deaf and blind students — regardless of where they attend school.

This year the school was sanctioned to participate in junior varsity competition in Region 17 for girls volleyball, boys and girls basketball and boys soccer. They were only allowed to use students attending these special schools, some of which are residential.

Last month, the board tweaked the earlier decision and agreed to allow the USDB teams to use students attending any high school as long as they can be identified as students using their services. That will go into effect next year.

They cited two reasons for the decision: The USDB teams have struggled to fill their rosters with only students attending their schools, and this change will allow more deaf and blind students to participate in athletics while attending public schools.

"In the past, when we had 200 students living in a residential setting, we used to field fairly big teams," said Mike Hillstrom, the USDB's activities director.

But in the late 1980s, more and more students attended public schools and the USDB began providing its services and teachers in those high schools, rather than requiring the students to live away from their families on campuses in Ogden or Salt Lake City.

"The residential aspect of our school has gotten smaller and smaller," Hillstrom said.