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Howie Gorrell jetting off to Turkey for his 12th Deaflympics

Ohio University Bobcat an irrepressible activist for all athletes
July 14, 2017

Howard “Howie” Gorrell, 73 years old, parked his black Subaru under a lonely tree at the far end of the scorching-hot Weis parking lot in Lewes July 10, just across from Orthopaedic Associates of Southern Delaware. Howie had just gotten a steroid shot in his knee, as he is getting ready to leave for the 23rd Deaflympic games in Samsun, Turkey, July 18-30. Howie is the tennis team leader.

Howie, who has been deaf since birth, changed shirts in the parking lot to look more Olympian for his portrait photo. “Don’t use the term hearing impaired,” Howie said by email. “I am deaf, but I’m not impaired.”

The literature suggests that use of the word impaired implies hindered, or he damaged something that ought to be fixed if possible.

Howie is an extroverted character who has lived locally, moved to the West Coast and now he is back. He has dipped his toes in the Atlantic Ocean off Rehoboth Beach for the last 45 consecutive years.  A man who can’t hear, Howie knows exactly what you are saying. He is an energetic communicator.

This will be the 12th games for Howie; he first participated in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1969. Four years ago, the games were moved from Ankara to Samsun, a resort on the Black Sea, because of the ISIS scare. “About 5,000 police officers and military personnel will protect us while we’re there,” Howie said.

Howie is a 2004 recipient of the Jerald M. Jordan Award, which is given during a non-Deflympic year to the person who exhibits leadership and continuous participation toward the goals of the Deaflympics, and the 2011 Art Kruger Award for continuous participation and support.

In 2000, I received the eighth annual Mary Custis ‘Custie’ Straughn Memorial Award for recognition of ‘dedication and commitment to working with the state council for persons with disabilities on behalf of the citizens of the state of Delaware,’” Howie said.

Howie was honored by Sen. Ted Stevens in his speech to 2,000 delegates at the banquet of the annual United States Olympic Committee House of Delegates meeting at Colorado Springs on April 28, 1979, for Gorrell's efforts in connection with the passage of the Amateur Sports Act of 1978. Stevens said: “Howie Gorrell has a dream. He wants to see more national governing bodies integrate handicapped athletes into their programs. He wants expanded programs for handicapped athletes. The Amateur Sports Act is going to help him achieve that dream."

Howie will turn 73 on July 16. He is divorced since 2000. His stepson Chris McDevitt attended Cape 1999 to 2002, and he has a daughter, Maria Gorrell, who is now 26 years old.

Howie tracks sports, from local to national. He attended Fairview High School in Dayton, Ohio, three years ahead of Mike Schmidt and nine in front of Olympic gold medal hurdler Edwin Moses.

“I was the only deaf student at Fairview and Ohio University,” Howie said.

Ninety seven countries will be represented at the 2017 games, involving 3105 athletes and 21 sports branches. The Deflympics are held every four years. The origin of the games goes back to Paris in 1924, when they were known as the International Silent Games.  

Howie, with a degree in education from Ohio University, was happy to be given time off by his two employers, ResortQuest of Bethany where he works Saturdays as a housekeeping inspector, and DiFebo’s of Bethany where his title is dish attendant.

Michael Hannigan, former executive director of the President’s Commission on Olympic Sports, said about Gorrell, “Howie has been a crusader for the disabled in sports for a good 45 years; no surprise he is still involved and competing. Howie was instrumental in helping us get legislation passed with the USOC on issues affecting the disabled in sports.”

Howie will fly to Istanbul for $603 - a real bargain, he says - then on to Samsun for $54.  

“Last year all selected tennis players voted not to go to Turkey,” Howie said. “Three months later, the USA Deaf Sports Federation  asked me to tell them to reconsider. I got two.”

Howie was a javelin thrower in his younger days before switching to tennis.

The tennis ball creates vibrations when the ball hits the strings, like music, the deaf athlete can feel it tactily. But that bad knee and the walker in the trunk of Howie’s Subaru are evidence that he won’t be charging the net much during his competition.  

Sign language is the  universal language of communication at an international event like the Deflympics, but Signing is a language related to each person’s home language. For example, the written word in English looks different than Russian; there are a myriad of dialects all with subtle differences but more alike than different. 

We locals wait to hear all about Howie’s Olympic adventures by sign or the written word when the irrepressible traveling athlete returns home to Rehoboth Beach.

Addendum: The World Games for the Deaf were renamed Deaflympics in 2001. Howie has participated in the games as an athlete, tennis team manager, group tour leader, USADSF technical director in venues around the world including Malmo, Sweden; Bucharest, Romania; Koln, Germany; Los Angeles; Christchurch, New Zealand; Sofia, Bulgaria; Copenhagen, Denmark; Rome, Italy; Melbourne, Australia; and Taipei, Taiwan. Howard Gorrell has been all over the world as an athlete and ambassador, and shows no signs of slowing down or stopping.  

 

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