Iowa Life Episode 203

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[Charity Nebbe] Coming up on this episode of Iowa Life, we'll find out how young people in the deaf and hard of hearing community share their love of baseball

Even though you do have this impairment, it doesn't have to stop you.

[Nebbe] We'll take a peek under the surface of a high school synchronized swimming club.

I love it. Being in the water is just fun and it's a great group of girls.

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[Nebbe] And we'll meet a Des Moines handyman who shares his love of minibikes.

It's always fun with the minibike crew. We always have a fun time. We laugh. We're a big family.

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[Nebbe] It's all coming up next on Iowa Life.

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Funding for Iowa Life is provided by --

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The Pella Rolscreen Foundation is a proud supporter of Iowa PBS. Pella Windows and Doors strives to better our communities and build a better tomorrow.

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And by, the Lainie Grimm Fund for inclusive programming at the Iowa PBS Foundation.

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[Nebbe] Hi, I'm Charity Nebbe and this is Iowa Life. Baseball holds a special place in the hearts of many Americans. It is an inextricable part of our culture. After all, it is the only sport known as our national pastime. Now, for some of us, baseball is just a spectator sport. It's a way to while away long summer days. For others, it's more. It's a way to connect to our shared history. It's an opportunity to learn teamwork and perseverance. For Dylan Heuer, it's a way to give back to his community.

[Coach] First base. Second base. Short stop. Third base. Left field. Raise your hand.

[Dylan Heuer] We're here today at the Iowa Baseball Camp for the Deaf. We're here all week. We have the camp every morning for children who are deaf and hard of hearing, age 7 to 14 from all over the Midwest. It's an opportunity for them to not only play baseball but socialize. It's a fully inclusive environment for deaf and hard of hearing kids.

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[Coach] Nice job. Nice speed.

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[Coach] Looking good. Looking good. We're looking good guys!

[Coach] The first thing we're going to work on is our catching and our throwing. Okay? So, my first rule is going to be there is absolutely no throwing the ball unless the person you're throwing to is making eye contact with you.

[Dylan Heuer] When I was little, I was involved with a baseball camp for the deaf. The camp was smaller, but it was so much fun. I have such fond memories of the time. There were other deaf kids there. I could identify with all of them, other individuals that signed. It was so exciting to be with people like me. And it was a part of who I am today. I don't have to experience any of those barriers. It's just nice to be outside, be my true self.

[Coach John Linden] After he graduated high school and went on to college, the camp kind of died out and when he came back, he revitalized it.

[Nancy Heuer] He came to me and he just said mom, I think I would really like to try and do the baseball camp again. And he goes, I am deaf, I know with deaf culture that this is really needed.

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[Nancy Heuer] Dylan organized with the interpreters through the Des Moines Public Schools and interpreters in the community. We got the coaches back. We got the volunteers out there. So yeah, we rebooted it in 2015.

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[Coach John Linden] The new camp is a lot larger, a lot more volunteers. It has been great having so many interpreters now and so much help.

[Coach] There we go. There we go. Bend those knees now. Bend those knees, get down. There you go.

[Ursula Heuer] I have interpreted for a number of these kids or known them just being in the same district as them. I volunteered for one day to come down. And then a friend of mine who is also an interpreter and I went to the Iowa Cubs game with the camp and she saw me explaining baseball stuff to the deaf kids and she saw Dylan running around doing all of his baseball stuff with the kids, and sort of thought to herself, hmm. And ever since then I have been interpreting at camp every single day. It really is a family affair. We're all here all week. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

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[Coach] Catching a couple of fly balls.

[Ursula Heuer] We have a range of hard of hearing to deaf kids. So not even all the kids sign. But we have volunteers and interpreters and coaches that know how to work with that whole range.

[Coach] Well done. Well done. Here we go!

[Coach John Linden] Some of them have never thrown a baseball or never swung a bat before.

[Coach] Here's a player!

[Coach John Linden] Their eye-hand coordination is amazing because they're paying attention. They learn very fast. These kids have phenomenal attention spans.

[Daniel Cronk] My favorite part about baseball camp is that I get to meet other people with my same symptoms and I get to meet a lot of new friends. I'm not the only one that has hearing aids. It does really make me feel more included.

[David Cronk] I really like the community here because it kind of just shows you that you're not alone and that even though you do have this impairment that it doesn't have to stop you. It doesn't have to be a big thing unless you make it a big thing.

[Olivia Gill] We get to play baseball and we get to sign and we get to meet a lot of new friends.

[Sophie Barney] I go to public so I don't go to deaf school. So, I just hang out with my regular friends. But here it feels like deaf school and it's fun.

[Dylan Heuer] Growing up they're often isolated in mainstream schools or even within their own family because they aren't able to communicate and so they don't have a sense of who they are. When they come to camp and they see, wow, there are a lot of other deaf peers here and it helps them find out who they are to identify with these other kids. Some of them use their voice. Some don't sign too much but they're meeting other kids that do. And they're just sort of immersed in the deaf community here and they become proud of who they are, proud of being deaf, proud of deaf culture.

[Nancy Heuer] You can see the kids, they kind of start buddying up after the first and second day and they're making new friends. They're kind of timid and shy at first maybe. But then it's like oh wow, everybody is like us. And it's just heartwarming to see the friendship that are made.

 

[Coach John Linden] It has been such a rewarding experience seeing the kids grow, seeing their faces when they have success and their high fives and their smiles and just the joy that they have in being able to come out and play and run around the field and hit a ball and throw a ball.

[Coach and players] Good game. Good game. Good game. Good game.

[Ursula Heuer] It's fairly uncommon outside of school sports that a kid is going to have a sign language interpreter. If it's a school-sponsored sporting event, it will be in that child's IEP that they will have an interpreter present, so they will have an interpreter for those sports. But playing little league or community leagues or other organizations that put together sporting events, generally don't provide interpreters. And sometimes that's just a financial thing that they don't have the funds to provide interpreting. In rural parts of the state there's not interpreters available, even if they had the money to get someone.

[Interpreter] So, one arm, two arms and then look on top of it.

[Sembetu Dalay] There are so many deaf children that are struggling because when they try to use sign, their families want them to speak or use a cochlear implant. But showing them that we're here, we're signing, it's important, it's so much easier to communicate and have access that way. And it's find if you want to speak and use your voice if that is one way that you can communicate. But communicating in sign is such an important part of deaf culture. It's our language.

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[Announcer] Also, representing the Iowa Baseball Camp for the Deaf, please welcome Skylar --

[Dylan Heuer] It's a huge deal for the deaf community because the deaf community is going to be celebrated at the game. The Iowa Cubs team, we're going to be wearing special jerseys honoring this celebration of the deaf community.

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[Ursula Heuer] They have always gone to an I-Cubs game during the week of camp. But this is the first year that that I-Cubs have really expanded that to be deaf culture night.

[Dylan Heuer] People from all over the state of Iowa who attend will have some exposure to the deaf community and to support the Cubs as well.

 

[Dylan Heuer] The camp is everything to me and more and hopefully it is for these young people as well.

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Take me out to the ballgame

Take me out with the crowd

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks

I don't care if I never get back

Let me root, root, root for the home team

If they don't win it's a shame

'Cause it's one, two, three strikes you’re out

At the old ball game

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[Announcer] Nicely done! Give yourself a hand!

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[Nebbe] Synchronized swimming has been an official Olympic event since 1984. Girls at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, however, have participated in the sport for much longer.

We're a club, but it is as much a sport as anything else.

I think people think that we're just kind of floating around in the water. But you generally use every single muscle.

I just like to think of myself as a fish really.

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I was doing an interview prep and someone was like, name one fun fact about yourself. And everyone was like oh, I have four cats. I'm like, I do synchronized swimming. And everyone is like, whoa. Like in the water?

Sunshine, two, three, four. Okay.

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I love it. Being in the water is just fun and it's a great group of girls.

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Honestly, being able to say that you are a synchronized swimmer, that is something that not many people can say because not many schools have that.

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Sharks is the nation's longest running synchronized swim club. We have been a part of the Roosevelt community since 1926.

It started kind of as a promoting swimming organization and then synchronized swimming became something that was part of the national consciousness. There were a lot of films that had synchronized swimming and Sharks turned into this really cool organization where they could do this sort of water ballet and put on a great show for the community.

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Two, three, four.

One, two, three.

Three, two, one.

We're entirely student-led, which basically just means that all of the routines are taught and choreographed by students.

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Right. Left. Right.

Swish.

Sail.

Ballet.

Pin under.

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Okay, next formation.

We do try to keep it light and fun because Sharks is supposed to be fun. But it is sometimes awkward being like hey, I know we're really close and we're friends, but you have to stop talking.

Can everybody lay out, please? And stay there.

Whenever you're swinging, it's this arm. Always go towards the middle.

Swing. Back. Front. Up.

Do these every day until Pageant.

Can we do all of that?

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Look at your lines under water.

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The amount of work that it takes to put on this show, or to do synchronized swimming at all, is unbelievable.

Oh, that looked good.

The amount of time you're under the water, holding your breath, the amount of strength it takes to do a ballet leg and hold your leg out of the water while staying afloat is really incredible.

We can hear the music underwater, which is awesome.

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You also have to be looking around and watching when there's formation changes to make sure you're going the right way, you're not running into anyone or you're not going to get kicked by a foot.

One, two, three ballet.

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Also lifts, those are a big challenge. There's a base and then there's feet, a back and then ankles and then the fly are on top of the base and you have to all work together to push at the same time so your lift goes up and down.

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They have such a good time. It's their chance to lead a group and they get a lot of leadership experience. But they have a lot of fun doing it. The sense of sisterhood in the group is really strong.

I love coming to practice. I get excited and I'm like ugh, I have to go to math and physics. And then I'm like oh, but then I get to go to practice after this and it's really fun and I enjoy it.

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(intermittent chatter)

Sharks is something that is so unique. Looking back these past four years, I just couldn't be more grateful for what I've learned and how to interact with people. It has honestly been the best four years of my life.

That is so cute.

Isn't it?

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The nerves don't really hit you until right before when you're standing in the doorway and you can see the crowd and you hear them cheering and you're about to run down and you're just like --

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Let's hear it for your seniors!

(applause and cheering)

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Pageant is a show that we work towards all season long. It's our one show to show the community what we've been working on all season. We don't compete. So, it's something that we put all of our energy to.

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I love Pageant because I get to share what I love with other people and I get to show it to them and be like, look, we've been working super hard and we did it!

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That's something that is really hard about being student-led is you're always wondering like my friends are going to see this, my classmates, my peers. What are they going to think?

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It's really rewarding and it's really fun to perform in front of a lot of people.

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I can't even hold myself from smiling when I'm in the water, it's so hard.

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It's like an atmosphere I've never felt before.

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I think as great as Pageant is, as wonderful as it is to see the alumni, to see the kids cheering, I think the most important thing for Sharks for me is knowing these girls will have these memories forever.

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These girls have so much fun together and they really lift each other up, which in high school is so necessary and so important. And it's just a joy for me to see and I hope more people will come to see our Pageant and see how amazing these girls are for the sport, for the school and for each other.

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(applause and cheering)

[Nebbe] They call him Flyin' Ryan. This Des Moines man has dedicated himself to building a world where he and his friends can go all out with skateboards and minibikes. But at the same time, he's building community.

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Let's go!

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[Ryan Kenes] So, a minibike basically has a pull start motor on it, so you have to pull it to start it.

(minibike engine)

[Ryan Kenes] They have big, fat tires on them usually. The fat tires are good for mud and stuff. Like this one behind me, I can pretty much take it anywhere really. Some of them are like older frames that they made back in the '70s and '80s. Some are worth a lot of money and some are just like you can get for cheap, just to build something quick. It gets crazy after a while. You can spend a lot of money on one.

(minibikes revving)

And they're off!

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(drill sound)

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[Ryan Kenes] I started skating when I was a little kid, probably seven years old. I know it sounds weird, but we would go to church and on the way to church there was this street where a bunch of guys were always skateboarding and they had ramps set up.

Tighter than a banjo string.

[Ryan Kenes] And they gave me a board. And then I had my first pro board and put it together and just started skating from then.

(sander sounds)

[Ryan Kenes] I'm just going to make some more space in between the torque converter and the mounting plate, just because the chain is a little close on the back plate.

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[Ryan Kenes] Minibikes came into the picture probably like seven years ago. Yeah, I got one, I bought it like an hour from here, it was like in a fire, cleaned it all up, painted it, made a new seat, put a predator 212 in it and then just took off from there.

There we go.

[Ryan Kenes] I built a few minibikes, some go karts, a little trike is still in the smoker right now, a few motorcycles and just some odds and ends stuff here. I'm more of if I see it, I can pretty much do it I feel like.

[Ryan Kenes] A lot of people like to get into them because it's not really too crazy to work on. You found a frame and put a motor in it and found parts for it you can probably spend about $400 or $500.

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[Ryan Kenes] So, this is called Helter Shelter. It is an indoor private skate park. It's just a big building where I have my shop and some concerts, some art shows, some minibike racing. Some things happened and I started having my own race series and lots of people riding minibikes, building them for people and getting more people into it.

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[Ryan Kenes] But there's like ten of us that helped build that park out there. We built every single one that we've had.

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[Ryan Kenes] Nothing's too crazy here but we just have like a few corners that are a little tricky. I like jumps and grown up riding these and stuff all the time, it just makes it so much funner and there's corners, there's different turns, you've got sweeper corners. You don't need to have all this stuff, but it just makes it look more like a racetrack. I just like to make it look cool.

This is an old 1969 Little Indian minibike.

 

Pull start my heart.

(minibike engine)

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We're here for the Helter Shelter's 5th year anniversary and also Flyin' Ryan's birthday.

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[Kiera King] We have skateboarding contests. I believe there's something going on with the grinding situation over there where if you make it all you get half of the grinding pole. And then we have a big minibike race coming up.

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[Ryan Kenes] It's pretty much like an all-day deal basically.

Here we go!

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[Ryan Kenes] You've got kids class, stock class, fat tire class, like the pro class. I've got 60-year-old people that race 'em. Actually, the class that is fun to watch, the women's class. We're getting so many more women, like they're battling just as hard as the guys are.

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[Kiera King] I would say that that's new, not feeling too hot about that thing right there. I usually fall over here a lot. I'm pretty sure those are two Christmas trees. I'm not going to lie. They look pretty fake to me. But for the most part, it should be fun.

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[Ryan Kenes] Sometimes bumpin' is racin'. You know what I'm saying. So, like, you can throw an elbow in there, maybe a foot, or if you can nudge them out of the corner or something like that. Then yeah, it's all fun.

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[Ryan Kenes] Everybody is just so happy. You can be out there battling but as soon as the race is over, you're back to being friends. It's nothing crazy.

[Kiera King] Yeah, I think it's a good scene right now. It's always fun with the minibike crew. We always have a fun time. We laugh. We're a big family.

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[Ryan Kenes] I just like to see people happy, have a good time. Someone who hasn't seen it and they're seeing it for the first time, the look on their face, or they come up and talk to you about it. Everybody is just happy, running around, just talkin’, racin’, chillin'. I like to race and I get pretty competitive, I'll tell you that.

All right, let's get all the minibikes up there.

[Ryan Kenes] But right now it's just been basically like announcing a lot of the events.

He opened up a big gap.

[Ryan Kenes] Get the crowd going and just have a good time and get more people to come back out next time.

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[Ryan Kenes] We'll get people that will talk about it. They'll be like man, I really want to come out and check out one of these races. I need to get a bike. I keep watching you guys have all this fun and man, it's like, yeah, anybody can do it. Just get one and come out and have fun. Most people ride it and they're like hooked.

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[Ryan Kenes] It's like, it's big everywhere. It's really big in California and Florida but they do mostly drag racing is what they're really big into. You've got people that like to collect them, you've got people that like to build them up and rip 'em. But here in Iowa we're just trying to get it going, get it even better and bigger and it's growing every day.

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[Nebbe] That's it for this week. Thank you for joining me as we experience the joy of sharing our favorite activities with others. I'm Charity Nebbe. See you next time for more Iowa Life.

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Funding for Iowa Life is provided by --

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The Pella Rolscreen Foundation is a proud supporter of Iowa PBS. Pella Windows and Doors strives to better our communities and build a better tomorrow.

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And by, the Lainie Grimm Fund for inclusive programming at the Iowa PBS Foundation.