Jessica Goldberg, a Hamline senior and Henry Sibley graduate, will wear a captain’s ‘C’ for Team USA this weekend during a two-game series against Canada, a first for deaf women’s hockey players.

Goldberg, a four-year hockey player for the Pipers, was named a team captain for the first USA Women’s National Deaf Ice Hockey, which will play the Canadians Saturday and Sunday in Amherst, NY.

“I’m just super excited,” Goldberg said this week. “The boys always had a team, and I always dreamed of a national deaf team for women. And now we have one.”

Under the guidelines of the USA Deaf Sports Federation and American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association, players cannot wear hearing aids or cochlear implants during games.

The Pioneer Press talked with Goldberg, Sibley High’s all-time points leader, about being deaf as well as being a member of the USA team.

You were born deaf. How old were you when you were diagnosed as being deaf?

I didn’t find out I was hard of hearing until I was 6 years old. I went six years without hearing aids. It changed everything. The first sound was the Velcro on my shoes and the zipper on my jacket. Then I stepped outside and heard birds. I still hear new sounds.

How did you get by until you were 6 without people around you realizing you were deaf?

I read lips. I passed all my hearing tests by reading lips and I read body language. A lot of times people don’t realize when they ask a question, they’re already nodding their head. As a kid I picked up on it right away and passed the hearing tests.

So what changed when you were 6?

When I was 6, I went to see my cousin, who is an audiologist. My family knew something was up because I kept saying “What?” all the time. My cousin diagnosed me. I have 50 percent loss in both ears. I wear two hearing aids.

The reason for not being allowed to wear hearing aids or cochlear implants during games with the USA team is so no one has an advantage. Are there women on the USA team who cannot be helped by hearing aids or implants?

Yes. There are a few girls who cannot hear anything. They don’t wear cochlear implants, hearing aids or anything.

Have you ever considered being deaf an impairment that kept you from succeeding at anything?

No. When I was growing up, my grandmother told me to never use your hearing as a crutch. I learned from that. I’m never going to let my hearing stop me from what I want to do in live.

What do you want to do in life?

That’s a good question. I’m not sure yet. Right now, I’m focusing on graduating in May. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do. I have some ideas.

What ideas?

I’m think real estate or mortgage. Something in that area. I for sure want to coach hockey.

Would you like to get involved in coaching deaf players?

I would love to get involved in all of it. I would love to coach deaf players. We go to a camp in Chicago with players from all across America who are deaf or hard of hearing. It would be tough to coach only a deaf or hard-of-hearing team because it’s only once a year. Coaching hockey is my dream.

Has being deaf ever been a hindrance for you?

There are daily struggles, but I find other ways to work around it. For example, sitting in class and hearing other students talking behind me can be difficult. I have to communicate with my professors and let them know I’m hard of hearing. I let the professor know I can’t always hear the people behind me. In hockey, I can’t always hear the players behind me. I use the glass as a reflector to see players behind me. I mentioned it to teammates at Hamline and they said they never thought of that before. I have some of them doing it now.

What was your reaction to being named captain of the USA team?

I am very honored to be named captain. I began playing hockey when I was 5. It’s been a dream since I was 6 years old to be on the deaf national team. I have no words for it.

Bob can be heard Mondays and Tuesdays on the KQRS Morning Show, and he does a daily podcast called “The BS Show,” which can be listened to live on the Tom Barnard digital radio network (tombarnardshow.com) or downloaded via iTunes, Stitcher, playerfm and thebsshow.net.