USOC - Deaflympics letter

Submitted by admin [1] on Tue, 04/01/2003 - 04:00

Independent Commission of the United States Olympic Committee
c/o Richard Cass
Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering
2445 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037-1420

Dear Commission Members:

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network (DHHCAN) respectfully request the Commission to include financial parity for elite deaf and hard of hearing athletes in the Deaflympic Games when it considers recommendations on the organization and structure of the United States Olympic Committee.

The current USOC structure creates disparity and inequity in the way deaf and hard of hearing athletes are funded by USOC, as compared with the way other disability groups are supported. To give one example, USOC provides line item funding US athletes on the Olympic and Paralympic teams, but does not provide similar support for deaf and hard of hearing deaflympians, who are forced to fundraise for themselves.

As background, the first World Games for the Deaf (WGD), now known as the Deaflympic Games, patterned on the Olympic Games, took place in Paris, France in 1924. The USA has competed in the WGD since 1935 and with the exception of World War II years, has participated every 4 years since then.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognizes CISS (Comité International des Sports des Sourds/International Committee of Sports of the Deaf), an international deaf Olympic organization composed of 82 national deaf sports federations (including USA Deaf Sports Federation – USADSF) ) as an organization “having an Olympic standing, directing their competitions according to Olympic principles.” In 1966 the IOC awarded the Olympic Cup to CISS (now known as the International Deaflympic Committee) in recognition of its services to sports. In addition, the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, and the Deaflympic Games are under the umbrella of the USOC and each of these games are recognized by the IOC, International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and CISS as games for the most elite athletes at the Olympic level. Yet the total level of funding to those attending the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, and the Deaflympic Games remain inequitable in what appears to be a violation of the OASA (Olympic and Amateur Sports Act), 1998. Members of the deaf and hard of hearing community are not asking for preferential treatment, but rather simply want the same treatment provided to other elite disabled and able-bodied athletes and for the USOC to recognize, as the IOC and IPC have done for years, that the Deaflympic Games are neither superior to nor subordinate to the Paralympics games

Established in 1880, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is the nation's oldest and largest nonprofit organization safeguarding the accessibility and civil rights of 28 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans across a broad range of areas including education, employment, health care, and telecommunications.

DHHCAN is the premier coalition of national consumer organizations representing a wide continuum of deaf and hard of hearing people, including those who are deaf-blind and late-deafened. There are over 28 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States.

Members of DHHCAN include American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB), ADARA, Association of Late-Deafened Adults (ALDA), American Society for Deaf Children (ASDC), Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD), CSD (formerly known as Communication Service of the Deaf), Deaf Seniors of America (DSA), Gallaudet University, Gallaudet University Alumni Association (GUAA), Jewish Deaf Congress (JDC), National Association of the Deaf (NAD), National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA), National Catholic Office of the Deaf (NCOD), Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), TDI, Inc. (formerly known as Telecommunications for the Deaf Inc.), USA Deaf Sports Federation (USADSF), and WGBH.

The NAD and DHHCAN urge you to take the appropriate steps to ensure financial parity for all athletes under the Olympic banner.

Sincerely yours,

Kelby N. Brick, Esq.
Associate Executive Director for Law and Advocacy
National Association of the Deaf
Chair
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Networkcc: USADSF President, Bobbie Beth Scoggins
USOC Acting President Bill Martin
USOC Interim CEO Jim Scherr