Touch Football Australia

The Silent Sport Challenge, held yearly by Touch Football ACT aligned to Hearing Awareness Week, is an inclusive participation event, which focuses on providing a place on the field for everyone, in particular members of the Hard of Hearing Community, which currently is 1 in 5 Australians Nationally. All participants of the Silent Sport Challenge wear earplugs and are not allowed to talk as they take part in modified games of Touch Football, the purpose of which is to replicate playing sport with a hearing impairment, this certainly presents quiet the challenge. The range of hearing impairments of participants varies from completely deaf and relying purely on Auslan to communicate, to those who have complete use of their hearing. By wearing earplugs and preventing people from talking, it creates a completely even playing field, with all participants relying on their other senses, and the Referees who have replaced their whistles with flags. The overall purpose of the event, is to increase the awareness and understanding of the hard of hearing community, by using the fun and inclusive nature of Touch Football to achieve this. This event is linked to Touch Football Australia’s commitment to inclusion and providing a place on the field for everyone.