Nova Scotia athlete first deaf person to curl at Scotties Tournament of Hearts

1st deaf athlete curls at national level Watch: Emma Logan is the first deaf athlete to curl at the national level. Claire Hanna reports.

REGINA — A 22-year-old athlete from Nova Scotia is the first deaf person to play in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

When Emma Logan was just 13 months old she was diagnosed with meningitis so severe she lost her hearing.

Logan relies on lip reading and wears cochlear implants, but originally ran into challenges on the ice.

“She was missing quite a bit from the other sweeper or the other end,” team Nova Scotia second Jennifer Baxter said.

Logan’s team started using coloured mittens; green for go and red for stop.

The visual cues helped, but Logan was still missing some calls.

“We realized that we needed something extra to accommodate for the gap in my hearing loss. That’s when we introduce the microphone.” Logan said.

Logan uses a Bluetooth hearing aid. Teams are not permitted use of hearing devices, but Team Nova Scotia was given an exception.

She says it’s been a huge confidence boost, to be part of a bigger conversation about inclusivity in sports.

As the team worked through some challenges they discovered something.

“Of course we were trying to figure out how to fill that gap on things that I couldn’t hear,” Logan said. “But then the conversation went beyond that. How do we best communicate all four of us that’s going to keep us playing at our best. We realized when the communication is good our team dynamic is even better and we play our best.”