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Synopsis: This is a story about deaf players who love basketball, and managed to achieve their goal of playing in the Deaflympics after overcoming their physical disadvantage and exceeding their physical limits. In the training process, a tacit understanding and profound friendship developed among the players. They supported and encouraged one another, which proved to be vital for their training. They all had a common goal- to participate in the Deaflympics. Even if it meant putting aside their studies and work, even if with meager hearing, they would accomplish this dream.
We were touched by the coaches’ dedication and players’ hard work. Some of the players were still students; others had daytime jobs. For them, finding time for the training was like burning candles by both ends. However, the players did not view hearing loss as the greatest barrier. Instead, they felt the biggest challenge came from within. In addition, they had to overcome their physical disadvantage and exceed their physical limits to pursue this goal. The process of training thus was also a process of growth for them. They told themselves: "Be proud of ourselves ... Apart from not being able to hear, we can do anything!" "Go! Taiwan Go!" The 2009 Deaflympics brought spotlight onto the deaf players, and allowed Taipei to be seen and heard by the world. The Deaflympics documentary film, "Power in 2009", is great for school activities and curriculum to teach students special education, life education, and gender equality. We hope more people can watch this documentary film so that they too can learn about the efforts and hard work of these players. As director Wen-ching Lin said: "Thanks to the opportunity to film the women's basketball team in 2009, I was able to express my passion towards sports! And thanks to the Deaflympics, I entered a different world and appreciate the pleasure of hearing!"
Charity Bazaar: The Deaf Women’s Basketball Team established "Taiwan Deaf Women’s Sports and Recreation Association ", with the hope to bring together hearing-impaired females who are passionate about sports for a common goal through the association. Director Ms. Lin held screenings for her documentary film "Power in 2009" in companies, government bodies and schools, and commissioned some independent bookstores to sell the DVDs. She donates the profit to the Association, and helps the Association unite compassion from the public.
2) Film Review: "Power in 2009"
Liang-ying In this documentary Power in 2009, director Wen-ching Lin spent three years following and filming women's basketball and beach volleyball players, of the struggle they had gone through to train for the Deaflympics. In the film we saw the two main characters, Pei Chou and Hsuan-hsuan, who were not professional athletes, but overcame all difficulties in training and other obstacles, to attain this ultimate goal of participating in the Deaflympics. They too, like most people, may have doubts or may want to give up when they encountered problems, but in the end they still followed through their dreams. This was a process worthy of documenting and learning. In this film, I saw the hardship of hearing-impaired athletes. They have to prevail over more difficulties than normal people, and therefore they need to put in double the effort. After watching this film, I ask myself: do I quit when I am halfway through? Do I give up when things become difficult? As stated in the film, "We may not be able to achieve it, but if we don’t, we will certainly not." I want to learn from their courage in pursuing their dreams, and find the sparkles in life.
En-chi This is the best documentary I have ever seen! Director Wen-ching Lin recorded the precious memories for them during the Deaflympics. The plot vividly outlined the development of Taiwan Deaf Women's Basketball. It turns out that the road towards Deaflympics was very rough. The players of Deaf Women's Basketball not only had to put in time and energy, but also needed to make the sacrifice of choosing between family, education and work. Even though the process was tough, even though there was hesitation to withdraw, even though the price to pay for their dream scared some of them, but they adhered to their commitment, and didn’t say the words "I quit".
In the film, the perseverance of the players inspired me. And I really admire the contribution and support the coaches put in for the players. They have proved that hearing-impairment is not an obstacle; only determination can pull oneself from adversity and go towards the dream! I am glad my mom bought this DVD for me to treasure. Hope others who care about them can have the chance to watch it too!
Hsuan-yun
"Without wave, cannot highlight the strength of a sailor; without a battlefield, cannot test the courage of a soldier; without stake, cannot see a person's true self." Every player pushes aside all obstacles and difficulties to come to the stadium, to sweat under the basketball hoop. And during this long process of training, we see the players’ persistence and the coaches’ diligence. Everyone is putting in her best efforts to push Deaf Women's Basketball Team to its peak. In this documentary there were many touching moments: some players were injured right before the game; some players participated in more than one sports category and needed to make a choice; coach who slapped herself in order to make a point for the players. All of those scenes touched me deeply. I learned from this film the spirit of never give up and sportsmanship. No matter what we do we should give total commitment. Like their spirit at basketball practices, regardless how strong the opponents are, they always hold the attitude of never give up-"Neither turn arrogant in victory nor be discouraged by failure."
Ting-yu The film Power in 2009 documented the stories of Deaf Women's Basketball and two hearing-impaired girls, Pei Chou and Tzu-hsuan Yu. The film recorded the process of how the players push aside all obstacles and difficulties to participate in the Taipei Deaflympics. I saw hearing-impaired friends’ helplessness when facing communication problems, as well as the dilemma of balancing work or academics with the practices. But regardless they still worked very hard to achieve the dream of participating in the Deaflympics. I really admire their courage and perseverance. According to the players, the barrier of hearing-impairment is not a major issue. In fact, the biggest obstacles come from within their hearts. They learned to overcome the inconvenience and the physical constraint to accomplish this goal, and this whole training process helped them grow and learn a lot. I think these players who participated in the Deaflympics are brave heroes! They have completed a meaningful task from beginning to the end. Although the result was not completely satisfactory, but throughout the process they sweated, got injured, and put in devotion and hardship to complete the training. I am inspired by their fighting spirit of standing up after falling.
Yun-jui
Power in 2009 documented Deaf Women's Basketball Team’s preparation for the games, the difficulties faced, and the problems in life. I was curious, with such strict and harsh training, what was the motivation that supported the players and the coaches? It was really not easy! Because the players lost their hearing, to develop good skills, the coaches needed a lot more patience. And these players’ techniques in the beginning were far worse than poor, but coaches Pi-cheng Teng, Pi-yun Teng and Yi-te Chiang were really proficient to have gradually transformed them so well! In the documentary, the scene that touched me the most was when a player walked instead of run during a game. The coach was so angry that she even slapped herself on the face. Actually that player couldn’t hear the coach’s instruction, and didn’t know what she did wrong. But after seeing how emotional the coach was, the player finally realized her wrongdoing, and quickly amended. It was through constant adjustment and practice that enabled the team to grow and thrive. In the final game of the Taipei Deaflympics, Taipei vs Hong Kong, Deaf Women's Basketball Team finally won their first victory while the whole stadium of fans cheered!
Yun-han After watching the film Power in 2009, it helped me understand how Deaf Women's Basketball Team transformed from a terrible rookies team, into a team that was powerful enough to compete in the Taipei Deaflympics. We often see players speedily run across the court in games; they seem to be so heroic and yet, it was because they have gone through strict training. As the saying states: "One minute of performance on stage, ten years of hard work off stage." For example, they need to practice shots such as free throws, two-point field goals, three-pointers, and bank shots, until they score 100 goals for each, which is really hard work.
But strict trainings like these often cause injury. The most memorable scene in the film for me was when the player Pei Chou seriously sprained her ankle, and got all strapped up. Even worse was she could not play in the game because of her injury. How disappointing that must be! But the other players did not give up; they kept on fighting, and finally won the first victory for Deaf Women's Basketball! This documentary shows me: as long as I have faith and keep practice hard, there will be rewards.
Fu-en
Director Wen-ching Lin spent three years shooting the documentary Power in 2009. After watching the film, I learn about Deaf Women's Basketball not only through text in the book but also visually, such as image of the players who trained so hard that they were out of breath, or the angry look on the coach’s face when the players could not perform as instructed. There were those players who withdrawn with tears, and there were players who marched on forward with smiles, but only those who put in the hard work can harvest. During the Deaflympics, the players who worked hard to practice and finally played in the games, they received accomplishments which were truly worthy of the sweat and tears. I was deeply moved by the look on their faces when they defeated Hong Kong; everyone played, cheered and shed tears of joy. Even though they only ranked 9th place, but at least the hard work paid off. Watching the moment when they won, I felt as if I was one of them, all of the effort and persistence finally resulted in sweet harvest! Hearing-impaired athletes’ story can inspire people to go after their dreams, and set a great example for me.
Chieh-ting After watching Power in 2009, I felt very touched. In the film, Deaf Women's Basketball players gave up their work and put aside their studies to participate in the severe training that was full of sweat and tears. All for a common goal to achieve a dream: to participate in the 2009 Taipei Deaflympics. Besides the harsh training, what touched me the most was the process of how they overcame their fears. Because of the painful training, they almost gave up on the game several times. But with family and coaches’ encouragement, and reassurance to themselves: "Yes, I can", they really achieved it. Before watching Power in 2009, I did research on the web about the film. I was surprised that it took three years to shoot a one-hour film. During the filming process, in order to get the shots she wanted, Director Lin must first become friends with the hearing-impaired athletes, to resolve their guardedness. So the time spent to communicate with the players actually took longer than the time to shoot the film. Director Lin’s persistence is admirable. I want to thank her for making this film. It is a great reference for our research project and helps us understand the hardships of training to become national Deaflympics players. This film is a tearjerker. |
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