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Deaf wrestler wins right to have interpreter beside him during matches

High school senior Ellis Kempf sued the Michigan athletic association, after it ordered his sign-language interpreter to stay in the coach's corner. He often couldn't see her and, as a result, lost matches.
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Ellis Kempf, a senior at Royal Oak High School in Michigan, can't wear his cochlear implant while he's wrestling, so he relies on a sign-language interpreter to get instructions from his coach. (Liz Kempf)
As It Happens6:36Deaf wrestler wins the right to have interpreter near him on the mat

Ellis Kempf is a high school wrestler and he's deaf. And, for the last year, he's been at a disadvantage on the mat. 

But now, Kempf and his mother have won the right from court to have Kempf's sign-language interpreter closer to him when he competes, so the interpreter can pass on messages from his coach.  

"He's very excited," his mother, Liz Kempf, tells As It Happens host Carol Off.

The Michigan State Athletic Association (MHSAA) had barred his sign-language interpreter from getting close to him during matches.

Instead, the interpreter has been confined to the coach's zone, which is often out of Kempf's sight line. So the high school senior sued — and won.

High school wrestler Ellis Kempf, who is deaf, says he is able to compete on a level playing field when he can see his interpreter, who passes on instructions from his coach. (Liz Kempf)

"When I called MHSAA just to say, 'Hey, let's have a good conversation and try to fix this,' They said, 'Just be a good wrestling mom and do what's best for all the boys."

That's when she decided she needed to go to court — to create, as she puts it, a level playing field.

"That's what makes me the happiest," she says. "If I can teach him that, if you can do something to make things better for everyone, that's what you need to do. You can't walk away from that. You have to stand up and do what you know is best."

When wrestlers who can hear compete, they listen to their coaches during matches as the shout instructions from a seat in the corner. When Ellis Kempf wrestles, he needs his sign-language interpreter to circle around the ring, so that he can glance up and see what his coach is telling him.

A little over a year ago, the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) told him that the interpreter wasn't allowed outside the coach's box. The MHSAA argued that allowing the interpreter to move around would put her in danger and give Ellis an edge over the other wrestlers.

You have to stand up and do what you know is best.- Liz Kempf, mother of deaf wrestler Ellis Kempf

Instead, his mother argues, it put him at a disadvantage. It meant that he couldn't always tell when a match was over, so he would let up too early and lose. Sometimes he would even get thrown from the ring.

"Ellis is used to having things a little different than other classmates and it makes me feel bad, but he marches on because that's what he's used to," says Liz Kempf.

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