Cora Roberts has worn hearing aids for ten years, ever since an infection ruptured her eardrums when she was six years old. Now a junior at Niwot High School, she has turned that severe hearing loss into a springboard, earning a call-up to the U.S. Deaf National Youth Team and training alongside deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes for the first time in her life.
Roberts learned she had severe hearing loss in both ears after undergoing a hearing test, and she has since endured eight surgeries trying to repair her eardrums, according to Denver7. Despite the toll of repeated infections, she says she enjoys wearing her hearing aids and that her infections have not been frequent enough to cause further problems, per the same report.
That balance between hearing-aid-assisted daily life and a soccer pitch that strips all amplification away is at the center of her new chapter. Roberts plays midfield and forward for Niwot Varsity and Colorado Rush 2009 DPL, according to recruiting records from SportsRecruits, which also lists her as a member of the high school graduating class of 2028 with a 4.032 GPA. The Development Player League is the competition in which Colorado Rush participates.
A Silent Pitch, A Different Kind of Game
International Deaf Soccer regulations require players to remove hearing aids during matches, a rule meant to keep the playing field level without electronic amplification, according to reporting cited by Goal.com. Roberts otherwise competes in domestic youth leagues.
To make the game work without sound, deaf soccer competitions rely on referees who wave visual flags alongside their whistles, per reporting from the Communique. It was Roberts' first time playing alongside other deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes, and she described the experience as emotional and unifying for the squad, according to Denver7's report. Her Niwot teammates have started learning sign language themselves, hoping to better communicate with her on their own field.
Training at a Brand-New National Hub
The U.S. Deaf National Youth Team trained in Atlanta, Georgia, using the newly opened U.S. Soccer facility there. In May 2026, U.S. Soccer officially opened the $250 million Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center on a 200-acre campus in Fayetteville, Georgia, creating a permanent hub for all 27 national teams, including its Extended National Teams program, according to SaportaReport. The complex includes 17 outdoor playing surfaces—13 natural-grass fields, two artificial-turf fields and two sand pitches—and more than 400,000 square feet of facilities, per the same account.
U.S. Soccer oversees nine Extended National Teams spanning Deaf, Para, Cerebral Palsy, Beach, Power Soccer, and Futsal divisions, designed to widen elite international opportunities for athletes with physical or sensory differences, according to the Cleveland Force Soccer Club. To qualify for the U.S. Deaf National Teams, athletes must have documented hearing loss of at least 55 decibels in their better ear, a standard set by the USA Deaf Soccer Association under U.S. Soccer's Extended National Teams rules.
Big Shoes on a Storied Program
Roberts is stepping into a program with an imposing track record. The U.S. Deaf Women's National Soccer Team has gone undefeated in global competition, winning four Deaflympic gold medals in 2005, 2009, 2013, and 2023, along with three World Deaf Football Championship titles, according to New Mexico Lobos Athletics. The senior team operates under head coach Amy Griffin and assistant coach Joy Fawcett.
At Niwot High School, head coach Stephen Dimit described Roberts as an energetic outside player who is becoming one of the team's leaders, per Denver7. He said Roberts brings character and courage every day and that she can be an ambassador for athletes with hearing differences. Niwot competes in high school soccer, according to Denver7.
A Growing Local Stage for Women's Soccer
Roberts' rise comes as women's soccer visibility grows across the Denver area. Denver Summit FC has helped grow soccer's popularity in the area, Denver7's report notes, a backdrop against which Roberts' own path now unfolds.
