The Indonesian Deaf Basketball Team will appear at the 2024 ASEAN Deaf Olympics

Jakarta, Todaysgist.com – The Indonesian Deaf Basketball Team will participate in the ASEAN-Australia tournament in September 2024. Appearing in this international event is a way to continue fighting for inclusion for deaf basketball athletes.

Founder of Indonesian Deaf Basketball Joshua Prawiro said that the experience of appearing in international competitions is very important to increase the flying hours of the Indonesian Deaf Basketball (IDB) team.

“The top three ASEAN Deaf Basketball teams will qualify for the deaflympic world level in Japan in 2025. However, if we fail to qualify for Japan, it doesn’t matter, what’s important is that we have given our best for Indonesia. For that, please pray that the Indonesian Deaf Basketball team has a champion mentality,” said Joshua in a press release, Sunday (11/8/2024).

Joshua added that IDB was founded a year ago to provide opportunities for deaf basketball players to channel their talents. He hopes that IDB’s presence can be widely known by the public.

“Basketball matches featuring deaf basketball players are still rare. But that doesn’t mean that these basketball players don’t have the opportunity to achieve success just because of their limitations,” said Joshua.

Joshua said, there is a slight difference between a regular basketball game and a deaf basketball player. Because the player cannot hear the referee’s whistle, a breakthrough was made. When the player cannot hear buzzer or whistle, an alternative is needed in the form of raising a flag to indicate a violation.

“The flags raised are the same as the team’s colors to avoid any misunderstandings. After that, the referee will inform through sign language what specific violation has occurred, and how the game will continue,” Joshua explained.