{"id":192686,"date":"2025-09-01T23:35:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T23:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/192686\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T23:35:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T23:35:13","slug":"san-diego-native-to-chase-gold-with-usa-volleyball-at-deaflympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/192686\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego native to chase gold with USA Volleyball at Deaflympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>Zain Shahid competing in Okinawa, Japan. (Photo courtesy of Zain Shahid)<\/p>\n

For 21-year-old Zain Shahid<\/a>, a phone call during Korean barbecue with friends in August of 2023 changed everything.<\/p>\n

The Rancho Pe\u00f1asquitos native had tried out for the USA Deaf National Men\u2019s Volleyball Team<\/a> in North Carolina two months prior. When his phone rang, he learned he had made the squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unexpected. It was a big moment,\u201d said Shahid, who coincidentally was wearing his USA Deaf Volleyball tryout shirt when he got the news.<\/p>\n

Now, more than two years later, Shahid is preparing to represent the United States at the 2025 Deaflympics<\/a> in Tokyo this November.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honor. I always dreamed about playing at a higher level,\u201d Shahid said. \u201cI watched those guys who went to the Paris Olympics and I wish I could do that. I\u2019m so grateful to be able to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rochester Institute of Technology kinesiology student\u2019s volleyball journey began casually, playing in the grass with friends before joining the Mount Carmel High School<\/a> team his junior and senior years. He credits San Diego\u2019s Seaside Volleyball Club<\/a> with accelerating his development during those crucial high school years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve really only been playing organized volleyball for five years,\u201d Shahid said. \u201cReally not too long compared to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his relatively short career, assistant coach Ben Campman praised Shahid\u2019s versatility at tryouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cZain showed a great ability to pass and hit. While many men\u2019s players just focus on the power of their hitting, Zain has clearly put a lot of work into making himself a more holistic player,\u201d Campman said. \u201cThis past summer we had a must-win game in a tournament and Zain really bailed the whole team out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>U.S. Men\u2019s Deaf Volleyball Team at nationals in Columbus, Ohio, last year. (Photo courtesy of Zain Shahid)<\/p>\n

The Deaflympics present unique challenges that differ from traditional volleyball. Players must remove hearing aids and cochlear implants during competition to level the playing field, forcing teams to develop alternative communication methods.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can hear a little bit like screaming or clapping, but others can\u2019t, so we have to find other methods. It\u2019s a lot of trusting where your team is, glancing at teammates,\u201d Shahid said. \u201cOur setter does the \u2018that\u2019s mine\u2019 motion, swinging his arms, and our libero stomps to call it. Any way to get attention without talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shahid has learned to adapt by becoming more aggressive in calling for balls, taking inspiration from David Smith, a nearly deaf star on the hearing USA Olympic team. Shahid met Smith during an international tournament stop in Anaheim. After the match, his mother struck up a conversation with Smith\u2019s mother, leading to an introduction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was freaking out,\u201d Shahid said. \u201cWe talked a little, got a photo.\u201d <\/p>\n

Team USA earned its spot in Tokyo by finishing fourth at the World Championships, avoiding the need to qualify through the Pan American Games. Turkey looms as their primary competition, along with strong teams from France and Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a real shot at getting gold. That\u2019s the dream, that\u2019s the goal,\u201d Shahid said.<\/p>\n

But even as the team prepares for the medal chase, navigating communication challenges remains a constant hurdle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a language barrier, but there is even more of a language barrier because we know ASL, they know Japanese sign language or Turkish sign language,\u201d Shahid said.<\/p>\n

Born with hearing impairment, Shahid credits his mother\u2019s involvement with the nonprofit California Hands & Voices for linking him to the deaf community. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful to be able to connect and realize I\u2019m not the only deaf kid in my city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His 15-year-old brother, also a volleyball player at Mount Carmel born hearing impaired, hopes to try out for the national team when he\u2019s older.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that would be so cool, the two brothers on the same court,\u201d Shahid said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Shahid with his brother, far left, and athletes from Seaside Volleyball Club at USA Volleyball nationals in Denver this year. (Photo courtesy of Zain Shahid)<\/p>\n

Shahid encourages young deaf athletes to embrace confidence in competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing proud of who you are really helps with playing,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re more confident, you\u2019re able to play a little more loosely and comfortably.\u201d<\/p>\n

As November approaches, Shahid looks forward to the unique atmosphere of the Deaflympics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Deaflympics are unlike any competition in the world. Nowhere else do you have this same sense of community and shared experience and culture,\u201d Campman said.<\/p>\n

Shahid believes chemistry has been crucial to the team\u2019s success and the bonds they\u2019ve built will carry them forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all just a bunch of good friends,\u201d Shahid said. \u201cWe\u2019re playing to win, it\u2019s super competitive, but we\u2019re also having fun when we\u2019re playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That camaraderie is all the more remarkable given how rarely the athletes train together, since they are spread across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe train pretty much only two times a year, once in winter, once in summer and then before every major tournament. A lot of training is up to us,\u201d Shahid said. <\/p>\n

The team also faces funding challenges. With only partial support from USA Volleyball support, players must raise money for travel, lodging and meals. <\/p>\n

To help offset costs, the organization has launched a fundraising campaign. Donate to Shahid and the entire team at www.givebutter.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zain Shahid competing in Okinawa, Japan. (Photo courtesy of Zain Shahid) For 21-year-old Zain Shahid, a phone call…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":192687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[107584,5229,1582,276,107585,107586,3549,7264,10855,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,107587,107588],"class_list":{"0":"post-192686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-2025-deaflympics","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-mount-carmel-high-school","13":"tag-rochester-institute-of-technology","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-sandiego","16":"tag-tokyo","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa","23":"tag-usa-deaf-national-mens-volleyball","24":"tag-zain-shahid"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115131667276225855","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}