The amazing story of the Myerscough rugby lecturer who has been profoundly deaf since birth

Photo credit: Chris Farrow

Diagnosed with profound deafness aged 18-months, Pete cannot hear without the help of his hearing aids. However, this has never stopped him from playing the game he loves – rugby union.

Pete grew up with his parents – of which is dad was a farmer – in Skipton, North Yorkshire, before he moved to France aged one due to his father’s work commitments.

It was across the English Channel where the family realised Pete had an issue with his hearing.

“We were in the countryside so I was pretty much free to roam anywhere and that’s just what I did,” Pete said.

“My dad would be calling me, trying to shout me to come back but he never got a response so he said to mum something wasn’t right.

“We came back to England for tests and it was there we found out I had been profoundly deaf since birth.”

Pete and his family returned to Yorkshire which is where, at an early age, he first picked up a rugby ball.

Surrounded by the sport through his dad’s links as a player with Skipton, Pete began his career aged four with nearby club Northallerton – as he took his first step in not letting deafness define him.

Pete had already made his mind up about which code he was going to play as well.

“It’s always been union for me,” Pete said with a wide smile when asked if he ever considered playing rugby league.

“My first memory of rugby was when I went to watch Newcastle Falcons in the 1990’s and New Zealand loose forward Pat Lam was running riot all over the pitch.

“I was only 14 when Johnny Wilkinson slotted that drop goal over to win England the Rugby World Cup and I thought I want do something like that.

”After moving through the junior ranks, Pete started his senior career at Wharfedale – North Yorkshire – where his two brothers George and Joe currently play.

Mum, Amanda, who was not particularly keen on the trio playing at first due to the secondary school her sons attended which meant a lot of people would be joining the club, however, those worries were soon erased.

Eldest Pete, alongside youngest brother George – who is also profoundly deaf – have both gone on to represent their country on the international stage having ran out for the England deaf side.

Pete swapped the white rose of Yorkshire for a Lancashire red rose to play for Fylde where he joined on an initial loan before making the move permanent.

It was here where he met his wife Saoirse, who he now has two children with, and rubbed shoulders with a member of the 2003 World Cup winning squad.

Winger Jason Robinson, who scored a try in the 20-17 World Cup triumph over Australia, played alongside Pete at Fylde when he joined for a season in 2010 as a 36-year-old.

Robinson, who also played for Sale Sharks in union and Wigan Warriors in rugby league, helped Fylde gain promotion back to the National League One before he retired from the sport at the end of the campaign following knee surgery.

“It was just unbelievable,” Pete said when he found out Robinson had joined.

“I was 21-year-old at the time and this guy played at the highest level in both codes of rugby and won almost everything there was to win – then he went to sharing a changing room with me.

“He just treated you like a normal person and was really down to earth. He’s from Yorkshire which made it even better.”

Pete, who is a lecturer in Rugby Studies at Myerscough College, has never seen his condition as a negative. Instead he believes it is more of an advantage.

Despite not playing with his hearing aids in, meaning he is completely deaf during matches, Pete has represented the England deaf team and both Lancashire and Yorkshire at county level.

He’s played at the home of English rugby union Twickenham, and has a straightforward way of playing the game.

Pete said: “I just play what’s in front of me, and that’s an advantage because I have to use and rely on my eyes more.

“It’s all about the visual aspects of the game and that’s why I always say to the players to look at what is in front of you and play with your eyes open.”

His prop position means he is involved in scrums – a way of restarting play that involves players packing closely together with their heads down and attempting to gain possession of the ball all on the instructions of the referee – something Pete cannot hear.

“I get the people behind me in the scrum to hold my shorts and then slap my leg when it’s time to go,” Pete said when asked about scrums.

“10 years ago I struggled because the rules were different but I benefit more with the news rules and still carry out the roles that a prop forward needs to do.”

Pete returned to Fylde at the start of the season, after spending time at neighbours Preston Grasshoppers where he helped the club gain promotion back to the National League Division Two North.

Fylde captain Ben Gregory, who plays alongside Pete in the front row, says he still can’t get his head around how his teammate does it.

He said: “It amazes me.

“Luckily for us Pete is really good at lip reading, so during the game you are able to pull him to one side and give him the message you want and he takes it on well and reacts.

“If you are trying to communicate with him as the ball is live it’s just a case of getting his attention which isn’t difficult as he is great at being aware of who’s around him and always looking for messages.”

Pete’s season is finished after undergoing an operation, however, he still has his teacher duties to fulfil whilst he waits to return to playing.

The above article was written by UCLan Sports Journalism student, Elliot Burrow, and is reproduced here with his permission.