UPDATE (May 1, 2012) :  Malone University alum Stacy Messner has earned a spot on the 20-woman U.S. Deaf Women's Soccer Team.  She was selected to the team after a final tryout last weekend in Columbus, Ohio.  At the Columbus tryout weekend, a major component of the process was an exhibition game that she took part in prior to a Columbus Crew MLS men's soccer game on Saturday (April 28th). 

Messner was notified several days ago that she made the team and will now be competing for the U.S. at the World Deaf Football Championships in Ankara, Turkey July 10-21.  She needs to raise approximately $5000 for her portion of the expenses for the trip as the USA Soccer Association, while supportive of the U.S. Deaf Soccer Teams in general, does not provide finances like most other countries do.

Donations:  Stacy and U.S. Deaf Soccer have set up an account through First Merit Bank.  Anyone interested in donating towards Stacy's expenses can stop in at any First Merit Bank and donate to the following account -- the Stacy Messner for the USA Deaf Soccer Team Benevolent Fund.  Also, you can donate at http://www.usdeafsoccer.com/ by clicking the DONATE button.


(original story posted in early April is below)
Malone University alum Stacy Messner would be the first to tell you that sometimes life is hard.  And often, very hard.  Especially when you are hard of hearing and, in Stacy's case, to the point of being legally deaf.  Having to deal with just this your entire life would be difficult enough.  Yet, Stacy's story of trial and tribulation does not stop there – not by a long shot.  But her story is also one of perseverance and triumph – and perhaps one of even soon becoming a member of the U.S.A. Deaf Women's Soccer Team.

Stacy was born deaf but her parents did not realize it until she was about three years old.  Because of this, she quickly, even at a very young age, learned to read lips in order to communicate.  All during her grade school, junior high and high school years, she learned to overcome her disability by utilizing this important skill.  And although her life was much more difficult than most kids, in other ways it was the same.  Like others kids, Stacy enjoyed sports and got very interested in soccer. 

Residing in Green, Ohio, Stacy was a four-year letter winner as a goalkeeper on the Green High School girls soccer team and closed out her career as one of the best players in the program's history.  As a junior, she was a Second Team Suburban League selection and then, as a senior, earned First Team Suburban and All-District honors while also being voted a team co-MVP.  Stacy also held numerous school records including career shutouts (27), single-season shutouts (15) and single-season goals-against average (.47).  In addition, she also holds the record for least goals allowed in a season (6).  Stacy helped her team to the district championship in both 2004 and 2005 and was part of a team that won a regional championship against the #1 team in America, Walsh Jesuit, in 2005. In addition to her honors for outstanding play, Stacy was also named an Akron Touchdown Club All-Star (sportsmanship award) in 2005.

Then, in the fall of 2006, Stacy came to Malone and was the starting goalkeeper for the Pioneers as a freshman.  Malone had a very good season, with a 12-6-3 record, while Stacy, despite her deafness, continued to play well and posted an impressive .85 goals-against average, five shutouts and 168 saves on the season.  In addition, she was part of a Pioneer squad that made it to the NAIA Region IX/X semifinals, losing in a penalty kick shootout to NAIA #5 nationally-ranked Houghton (NY) College.

Her freshman year at Malone was an important one to her in more ways than just on the soccer field and in the classroom.  It was that year that Stacy drew close to the Lord.  “I gave my life to God while I was a freshman at Malone,” Stacy recalls.  “And the bible verses that made the light bulb go off for me were Romans 12: 1-2. In verse 1, it says 'offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God' and in verse 2, 'do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind'.  These two verses really gave me a peace and a new closeness to God.  And as it turned out, I would really need this even more so before my Malone career was through.”

But with the greater academic demands in college, coupled with her disability, making it even more difficult to participate in intercollegiate athletics, Stacy did not play for the Pioneers after her freshman year but rather started to help coach within the Green Youth Soccer program. Since that time, she has helped with the U-10 through U-14 teams, working specifically with roughly 30 goalkeepers.  And she has also served as an assistant varsity coach for the Green High School girls team the past few years.

But if the difficulties of being legally deaf were not enough for Stacy to deal with during her time at Malone, two family tragedies during her senior year gave the struggles she was facing at the time a whole new meaning.  On November 22, 2009, during the Thanksgiving break of her senior year, Stacy's father died of a massive heart attack.  Her father, who had been divorced from her mother since Stacy was 10, was the primary caregiver to her grandmother, in whose home the family was living.  And not only did her dad take care of her grandmother, who was bedridden, but he was also raising Stacy's three sisters, Christie and Marissa, who were in high school and grade school, respectively, at the time and Maria, who just returned from doing some short term missions work in South Africa.  In addition, the developmental challenges that Marissa has had since birth made the caregiving in the household all the more difficult.  But now, suddenly, in addition to having to deal with the loss of her father, all this additional responsibility fell squarely on Stacy's shoulders. 

The upcoming final examinations that she would soon need to take to close out her senior fall semester now seemed unimportant, yet she knew that she somehow needed to handle both her schoolwork and her new responsibilities at home.  So, with the blessings of a flexible Malone faculty, Stacy moved home and started the process of commuting to school to obtain her degree. 

But then a second family tragedy occurred on April 26, 2010 when her grandmother died from complications of the stroke that she had about 10 years earlier.  And with this occurring on the first day of final exams during the spring semester, the loss of her grandmother was compounded by all of the pressures that come with finals week in college. 

Again though, with the patience, understanding and flexibility of her professors at Malone, Stacy was able to finish those final exams and she went on to officially earn her degree in Sports Management (with a minor in coaching) in the spring of 2011.

Now, the next chapter in Stacy's life was about to play out – but she didn't know exactly how it would unfold.  Then, one day in April 2011, she saw an article in an Ohio North Youth Soccer Association newsletter that got her really excited. The article was about the U.S.A. Women's National Deaf Soccer Team and how they were going to be having tryouts again for the squad. 

With all of the responsibilities and pressures that she had been dealing with over the past number of years, Stacy knew that it was time that she did something for herself.  But, even though she had been coaching for the past three or four years, she hadn't been playing competitively.  “Could I do it?,”, she asked herself.  By her own admission, she was a bit overweight and somewhat out of shape.  She had even been in a walking boot for a while after a case of planter fasciitis. So, getting back into playing shape would be no easy task.

So Stacy started playing a bit more and proceeded to lose 30 pounds since early last summer in preparation for her attempt at making the team.  She went to an initial tryout last summer in Pittsburgh, just to see what it was all about.  She was introduced to the new coach of the team and received information she would need to participate in future tryouts.

After working on her game and dropping the needed weight, Stacy went to a tryout in Georgia last month to battle roughly 35 other players in an attempt to make the cut to just 25 players.  Athletes from all over the country were there including one professional player, Felicia Schroeder, who has been playing in Finland and Sweden the last few years.  Schroeder , a member of the team for a while now, is one person who Stacy could certainly admire since Felicia was a tremendous player despite the fact that she speaks very little and is difficult to understand, needing a sign language interpreter to communicate with people.

With many outstanding players on the team, two of whom were stellar goalkeepers, Stacy made the decision to try out as a forward, a position she had also played in high school.  The decision paid off as she made the cut to 25 athletes.  But there is still one more big step that she must take.

The final hurdle in making the traveling team will be during the weekend of April 26-29 when she will travel to Columbus, Ohio to attempt to make the final cut down to 20 athletes.  Those who make the cut will represent the U.S.A. Women's National Deaf Soccer Team at the World Deaf Football Championships in Ankara, Turkey July 10-21.  Those who have already made the cut to 25 will still be an official member of the team but will not be on the travelling roster.

At the Columbus tryout weekend, a major component of the process will be an exhibition game that will take place prior to a Columbus Crew MLS men's soccer game on Saturday, April 28th.  On that date, at the Columbus Crew Stadium, the U.S. Deaf Women's Team will hold an exhibition game at 12:30 p.m., followed by a U.S. Deaf Men's Team exhibition contest at 3:00 p.m.   The day culminates with a 7:30 p.m. Columbus Crew game vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps.  The price to attend all three games is $25.00 with a portion of the proceeds going to the U.S. Deaf Teams.  Tickets for the exhibition games can be purchased at www.thecrew.com/deafsoccer or by contacting Stacy directly at mess1301@yahoo.com.

A great attendance at the event is crucial to the U.S. Deaf Teams since it will be a primary source of funding for the squads.  While the USA Soccer Association is supportive of the U.S. Deaf Soccer Teams in general, it does not provide finances like most other countries do.  Each player on the deaf team must raise their own money for travel and other related expenses.  For those who make the team, it will cost about $5000 to compete this summer in Turkey.

The U.S. Deaf Women's Team has been very successful on the field in recent years having won the gold medal at the last two Deaf Olympics, in Australia in 2005 and in Taiwan in 2009. Similar to the World Cup, the Deaf Olympics also happens every four years with the next Olympics being held in the summer of 2013. At least six other countries will be competing at the Olympics, which was originally scheduled to be held in Greece but is now being moved to another country (yet to be determined) due to the financial struggles in Greece.

Despite being legally deaf, Stacy can speak very well as compared to most other deaf people.  “It's usually pretty hard for people to read lips but I feel really blessed to be able to do this quite well,” said Messner.  “I never felt held back by being deaf.  I can speak well but there are about 20% of those on the team who don't hear or speak at all.  And there are many others on the squad who aren't able to hear at all but can speak a little bit.”

As described on the U.S. Deaf Soccer website, deafness is a hidden 'disability'.  In sports such as soccer, players face certain hidden disadvantages, such as not being able to hear their coach's instructions during a game, a referee's decision or the roar of the crowd.  Because deaf soccer players compete regularly against their hearing peers, these aspects of the game, taken for granted, can make a difference during the course of a match.

Under international criteria, to be eligible to compete in deaf soccer competitions, players must have an average hearing loss of 55 Decibels or more in the best ear.  All players competing in deaf matches must remove all hearing aids before playing which creates another obstacle to overcome, balance - another important advantage for a hearing player.

“This is a really cool and unique opportunity that not a lot of people will get the chance to do,” said Stacy.  “We are representing the USA in international competition.  With this opportunity in front of me, I just thought – why not try something that, if I put my mind to it, I know I can do.”

And while Stacy is still obviously concerned about the well-being of her sisters at home, she has support from family in the area who will help out during her time of participating in tryouts and hopefully, during her time that she would be away over the next year or years on the U.S. Deaf Team.

Her sister Christie, who is finishing up her senior year at Green High School this spring, is coming to Malone this fall.  Marissa, an eighth-grader, continues to play soccer with the Green Youth program and also participates in middle school track & field, despite the mental challenges she faces.  In addition, she has also competed in numerous Special Olympics in bowling, basketball, soccer and track & field.  And Maria, now 21, is married and living in Holland while also going to college there.

“I know that this is the right thing for me to be doing now and I'm really excited about the chance to hopefully make the U.S. Deaf Team and to compete in both the World Championships this summer and in the Olympics next year.  I know this is a big challenge but I've been used to them my whole life.  Despite everything I've faced in my life, I never once blamed God.  Yes, my life may be hard but He's allowed each challenge for a reason.

“And, yes, I'm scared out of my mind half of the time but I'm continuing to trust Him and to give myself to Him and not let society dictate that I should quit and be angry at Him for all the situations that have affected me.  I trust Him and believe that there is a bigger plan in all this. In the end, hopefully the challenges I've been through can help me and make me a stronger person.   And hopefully, in all of this, I can help others through their challenges as well.”