England and GB rugby star Jodie Ounsley: “With my deafness I'm making history”
For most of her life, Jodie Ounsley has viewed her deafness as a superpower.
It’s never a barrier but a challenge she likes to tackle head on, that she credits with helping her become resilient, focussed, and creative.
Born profoundly deaf, Ounsley was an active child. Due to wearing hearing aids it was considered risky for her to play contact sports.
Despite this, she went on to become a British Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion and represented both England and Great Britain at rugby sevens, making her the first deaf female rugby player to have appeared for a senior England side.
“I loved athletics, I loved like grappling and fighting. So, rugby felt like a home combination,” Ounsley says in an exclusive chat with Olympics.com.
"It was amazing, to represent my country, is something really special. But I think it meant even more with my deafness”
“It was sort of a rollercoaster ride," Ounsley tells us, looking back on her first visit to the South West London suburb where England rugby is based: "Moving to Twickenham… my whole life just changed 360."
Becoming a rugby player proved her capability to be competitive in a team, further boosting her confidence.
Her game has improved leaps and bounds since, and now Ounsley is inspiring others with disabilities to chase their dreams.
Exeter Chiefs Jodie Ounsley is England's first-ever deaf female rugby player to be picked for a full international 7s team.
Jodie Ounsley’s sporting path - from coal carrying to the rugby pitch
Ounsley grew up in a world of silence.
As a deaf child, she only heard her sounds as a toddler at 13 months. This, though, never held her back, and she was always a physical child.
Watching her father training lit up her interest in sport.
“When I was around three years old, I picked up a sack of carrots, and put it on my shoulders. My dad just kept saying [that] I kept running around the kitchen like a crazy kid,” she recalled how she set off to follow in the footsteps of her father Phil, a former world champion in coal carrying, and a professional mixed martial artist.
Her sporty ability shone through as she became a four-time world junior coal carrying champion. “I did the races and absolutely loved it.”
Outside her hometown of Yorkshire, she went on to sprint for Great Britain at the Deaflympics and grappled her way to the British title in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Still, she craved more.
Ounsley wanted somewhere she could blend her speed, athletics skills, and physicality. The fast game of rugby, which her brother was already immersed in, is what she needed, but there was a risk that playing with cochlear implants could lead to injury.
“I started rugby when I was 15, but I think I would have wanted to start it when I was younger. My parents were like, ‘We're sorry that we've not let you do it, but we do have our reasons’. And then I think they just got sick of me going on and on, asking if I can do it,” she said in the interview with Olympics.com.
“It's more like the magnet that sits in the skull," she continued, pointing to the hearing implants behind her ear. "If they're sort of hit hard enough, you could potentially dislodge that magnet, which can bring a lot of complications.”
“We looked into safety measures and got a standard rugby head guard that players wear to prevent concussions to protect the implant, and then added an extra bit of padding inside for protection.
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For Jodie Ounsley rugby is the perfect fit
Rugby brought the Englishwoman new joys.
She was able to play a part in a team environment after overcoming her initial fears.
“When I went to do my first rugby session, I didn't know much about rugby at all at this point. All I knew was you have to pass the ball backwards,” she reflected on her early days playing for her local teams Sandal RUFC, and her county Yorkshire at under-15s.
“I loved how physical demanding and how aggressive it is. I've always been a bit like tough and ready when I played little girls. The first sessions, I was so nervous…not about the rugby…[but] going into an environment [where] they haven’t had a deaf player before, and how people, the coaches were going to react…”
Ounsley focussed on tapping into her quiet power and explosive strength.
“There's no sugar-coating that deafness is a disability. You still struggle in a lot of situations. You have to be very proactive, very honest, very open, just very willing to adapt to your environment and how you can sort of work around things to make it easier and to make it work.”
“But they [the teammates] were amazing,” she continued.
“The team environment about rugby is inclusive. Everyone in general has each other's backs.
“They did everything to support me just to make things a little bit easier on the pitch, doing little hand signals for certain tactics. I also spoke to coaches a lot beforehand and after sessions to set up and listen to all the information and things like that.”
Rugby turned out to be the perfect fit for Jodie Ounsley.
Ounsley on breaking into the England Sevens teams and reaching Olympic level
It was no surprise that after winning the 2018 World Deaf Rugby Sevens, signing for English top flight women's side Loughborough Lightning, and featuring for England Under 18s that season, she was called up to the England Sevens squad.
“When I got my first England cap, I remember it like it was yesterday…” she said of her debut at the World Sevens Series debut in Glendale, Colorado in 2019.
“Being surrounded by all my team-mates, players I've looked up to, who I've watched at the Olympics, like genuine, amazing world-class players. And then to be there on the pitch, playing alongside them. It was a bit of a pinch me moment.”
Thriving in an environment where she is the only deaf person on the pitch has been a huge accomplishment because, even with hearing aids, Ounsley still needs additional support, on and off the field of play.
“It’s just impossible to lip-read when you're playing rugby, everyone’s screaming, everyone’s running in different directions... But I must be doing OK to have got to where I am,” she said contentedly.
“I've learned to be really honest with people now and a bit more direct if I am struggling, I just speak to people. I rely on my eyes, use visual cues, body language predicts, and just speaking to my team-mates beforehand.”
Team GB's women secured a rugby quota spot for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, having finished top at the 2023 European Games.
And the inspiring Ounsley is hoping to be selected and make more history. The England’s 2020 Deaf Sports Personality of the Year, an award she also won as a junior, just missed the cut for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021 after making the provisional team.
“When I was growing up, even before I found rugby, I always had the dream to compete at the Olympics. At the moment, I am just doing everything I can to be sort of the best rugby player and if it ever get the opportunity, then I’d be absolutely honoured.”
Thanks to her ‘power and passion for competition’ the 23-year-old winger, who now plays for club side Exeter Chiefs, is also eyeing a sport in England's 15s teams. Her story also found a wider audience as she was selected to compete in popular British television show Gladiators, where she featured as ‘Fury’ in the 2024 edition on BBC TV.
It was the first time the Series had featured a deaf gladiator.
The path may sometimes change, but her goals remain the same – pushing the agenda and making strong representation for the deaf.
“There is obviously the Deaflympics, which a lot of people don't know about, just because of the lack of exposure and funding. Obviously, with my sort of position I am in now, the honorary president of UK Deaf Sports, we are trying to push that for deaf athletes.”
“When I was younger, I didn't know anyone who was deaf or anyone in the sporting world or anything like that. That's why I'm so passionate now, just to try and be a good athlete, and be a good person for any younger kids to look up to,” she adds.