Büşra Çevik, Deaf Women’s Basketball National Team player, said that basketball, which she started in primary school, changed her life in a positive way. Büşra, a hearing-impaired basketball player who was born in the Ayvacık district of Çanakkale, talked about the contributions of sports to her life.
Stating that her mother was also hearing impaired, Büşra said, “When I was playing with my cousin when we were little, my grandmother asked us for something, while I was looking around, but my cousin came to buy what was requested, then my aunt told my father, ‘Let’s show our daughter to a doctor’. My father is such a thing. “I started using hearing aids in the first grade of primary school.” said.
Stating that they have 2 siblings, one of whom is twin, Büşra said, “There is no hearing loss in my siblings. After I started primary school, I was not far from my friends and with everyone. I was not speaking, I was a little behind in classes. Then one day I went to watch my cousin go to basketball training. ‘Would you like to join the training?’ “I was very happy, too, I started training and started training with excitement in the first grade of primary school. Since then, I have been continuing basketball.” he said.
Stating that the Deaf Women’s Basketball Team Coach Burcu Pelister came to Çanakkale Ayvacık to watch her training, she met with her father and admitted her to the national team, Büşra continued:
For the first time, I heard that there is a national team for the deaf, and I was very happy. Because Ayvacik is a small place, I thought I was just hearing impaired. Then the national team coaches invited him to the match in Afyonkarahisar, when he went to the match there, the sound of the ball was heard outside the hall, but the sound of speech was not heard at all. I opened the door, entered the stands, and what can I see, everyone in the national team speaks in sign language. I was very emotional that day because I thought I was the only one like this. Then I entered the match, they watched me, they liked my game and I was selected for the national team. I have been playing for the national team since 2016.
“WE EXPECT A MEDAL FROM THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP”
Stating that she has a severe hearing loss of 85 decibels, Büşra said, “I improved my speaking by reading a lot of books. I first participated in the Deaf Olympics in Samsun in 2017 with the national team. In 2021, we came in fourth in the European Championship in Italy. We participated in the Deaf Olympics in Brazil in the last 2022, unfortunately we could not achieve the level we wanted there. I believe that we will do better at the world championship in Greece this season, because everything looks very good this year, we are working well with our teachers, we do our best we will do.”
Stating that the national team contributed a lot to him, Büşra continued:
Thanks to the national team, I won the university, saved my life. At 9 Eylül University, I won the physical education teacher training by ranking first in the aptitude test among the disabled. I graduated without ever being in the classroom. Thanks to my teacher Burcu, I am also a trainer at the public education center. I am both an athlete and a coach, which is a great advantage. I can’t repay my Burcu teacher. Before the pandemic, I was injured in my anterior cruciate ligament, at that time I called Burcu teacher because the team I was playing was not interested. Burcu teacher guided me, I had my surgery, everything went very well, I recovered and I continue to play basketball. We expect medals from the world championship this year.
PELİSTER: AN ATHLETE I WANT A GIRL TO THE NATIONAL TEAM LIKE HIS DAD WANTS A GIRL
Stating that they have been working with these athletes for about 12 years, Burcu Pelister, Deaf Women’s Basketball Team Coach, said, “I started this job at Ataşehir Deaf High School in 2011, we started a basketball team with them, we participated in the inter-school Turkey championship and became the champion. Afterwards, in 2012 in Turkey. We established the national team that will participate in the European Deaf Basketball Championship, which was held in Istanbul, and I have been interested in it ever since.” said.
Explaining that they are coaching the team with a professional team, Pelister said that they want to prepare better for the world championship this season and return with a medal.
Regarding his efforts to recruit national basketball player Büşra Çevik to the team, Pelister noted the following:
There are many names I brought to the team, but Büşra is really an athlete that I want to join the national team, as if asking for a girl from her father. When I heard his hearing, I immediately went and talked to his teacher in his village in Çanakkale, then let’s talk to his father, Uncle Kadir. I had already told at length on the phone, but he said ‘no, he should not go far’, he could not trust. Since I know that it is an organization where the life of a hearing-impaired athlete can really be saved, I told Uncle Kadir with that belief, he was convinced, thanks. Büşra was a high school student at that time, then she graduated from the university as a national player. Now he also works as an assistant coach with me.