Wheeling Jesuit University has signed the first rugby player from a deaf school, as Model School for the Deaf standout Marcus Pointer will join WJU in the fall.

Pointer is an athletic, mobile front-rower who was spotted at the Washington, DC school when current WJU assistant Tal Bayer was coaching at DC-area Perry Street Prep. 

“I’ve always had a deep interest in rugby, and I wanted to play it through my college years also,” said Pointer, who is hard of hearing, and not totally deaf. “Tal Bayer  had a huge impact on me going [to WU]. He saw me play my sophomore year.”

Pointer got his first taste of rugby playing touch against the Perry Street/Hyde team while in 8th grade. He was attending the Kendall Demonstration School located on the Gallaudet University Campus. 

As someone who is hard of hearing, Pointer can hear and understand conversational tones, but when noise levels rise, it can be difficult to hear. He has attended deaf schools and knows American Sign Language - something he hopes to teach to his new teammates at Wheeling Jesuit.

Model started playing rugby under Mark Burke in 2009, playing 7s then and moving to 15s a year later. Bayer was instrumental in encouraging the program, and the Model team continues to grow. Several of their graduates have gone on to play in college, notably at Rochester Institute of Technology, where the National Technical Institute for the Deaf is a national-recognized educational program. Interestingly, Model started as a prep school for Gallaudet University, a well-known deaf university. One of Gallaudet’s athletic claims to fame is that they invented the huddle in football; they did so to shield their hand signals from opposing teams. Now it’s possible Pointer might bring hand signals to WJU. 

On the field, understanding each other is a challenge for deaf players. If they are looking at each other, sign language can do the job, and some can hear, as well. But understanding the referee is the biggest issue. Refs in the DC area have learned to help, and a key aspect of this is the scrum cadence. Referees can’t be sure that deaf players hear “Crouch, Bind, Set” so they place their hand between the front rows, signal “Crouch” with a clenched fist. They pull the hand out to indicate “Bind,” and then put the hand back in, to remove when they say “Set.”

“It helps a lot,” said Pointer, who plays prop.

Pointer said he feels he needs to improve in all aspects of his game, but Burke said Pointer is being modest.

“He is modest as his parents keep him grounded,” said Burke. “What he has going for him is that he is a big man - 5-11 and about 240 pounds - and he moves very well. He is quick and powerful, and he also has great hands. He may have the best hands of all the forwards.”

Bayer remembered Pointer from his time in DC.

“He was a good multi-sport athlete,” said Bayer. “He had huge potential. My players used to make the mistake of thinking he couldn’t hear them, but you could tell he could. He’s smart. He has a great physical frame, and a phenomenal attitude. Every sport I’ve seen him play, he’s been all smiles - a positive, hard-working kind of guy.”