They are fit, determined and ready to face the nation's best but what stands these ACT athletes apart from many others is their prowess in sports for the deaf and hearing impaired.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Chloe Nash of Conder will be competing in the women's netball and mixed touch football events at the Australian Deaf Games held in Adelaide between January 9 and 16.
The 29-year-old was born profoundly deaf and said the different ways that everyday sports were played might seem strange to people watching Deaf competition for the first time.
"Imagine yourself playing wearing ear plugs, how you would play and hear the whistle?" she said.
"We all compete without our hearing aids or other devices such as cochlear implants. We can't hear anything without our hearing devices, so we use the flag and signals to attract attention – no whistle needed."
The ACT team has 25 athletes competing in five sports: netball, touch football, table tennis, tennis and athletics.
This year will be 16-year-old Sarah Ashleigh's first time representing the ACT at the national games.
The Farrer student will compete in netball as well as the 100 metres, discus and shotput events.
"For me, taking part in the Australian Deaf Games means that I can meet new people all over Australia who are deaf and experience the energy and enthusiasm that the Deaf community has when playing their chosen sports," she said.
The 2016 games is the first where Fiji will compete against athletes from across Australia however as hype builds before the mixed touch football, sunny Queensland is being touted as the biggest threat.
"Queensland is the team to watch, as they are the undefeated champions for the past three Nationals," Ashleigh said.
"The ACT team has always performed well against them so we are hopeful of a win."
Michael Louey, 47, of Casey was glad to return to Adelaide for the games this year.
It was there at the 1994 Australian Deaf Games he was first named an Australian champion while representing Victoria.
He has since competed at national and international tournaments including the Australian Deaf Games, National AWD Championships, Australian Open Championships, Australian Veterans Championships, Asian Pacific Veterans Championships, Asia Pacific Deaf Games and Deaflympics.
"Representing Australia is everyone's dream come true, this is the biggest achievement of my life," he said.
Having played for hearing clubs throughout his career too, he said deaf competition had a certain intensity.
"With any activity, sign language is used by the deaf," he said. "Hand waves, signal and gestures make it easy to focus on the game and better to communicate with each other. Effective communication and motivation is important on every level of competition."
