XV World Games for the Deaf : Money no Object for This Family

It seems that Jack Barron will do almost anything to get his family to the World Games for the Deaf.

After selling the family mobile home to travel to the 1981 Games at Cologne, West Germany, Barron is hawking T-shirts to pay for the excursion to Los Angeles, the site of this year’s Games. But for Barron and his wife, Maurine, who are both deaf and are the parents of four deaf athletes, it is worth it.

“The money doesn’t mean anything. That’s one thing that’s very important,” said Jack Barron, through an interpreter. “It was tough to give up the mobile home, but we were really happy to do it.”

The Barrons’ hometown of Council Bluffs, Iowa, donated $12,000--enough for athletes Luanne, Stacia and Jack Jr. to travel to West Germany. The mobile home was sold for $3,000--enough to send spectators Jack, Maurine and Barry.

This year is different. The cost was $2,000 per athlete, but a large donation was not received. A local deaf club donated $800, and another charity pitched in $200. But $5000 was still needed.

Now, Jack and Maurine are selling T-shirts with an American Eagle caricature at $7 apiece. He has been given a $4,000 credit by the American committee for the World Deaf Games, but it must be paid back.

“I ordered 600 shirts, and if I sell all of them, I’ll only make a profit of $2,000,” Barron said. As of Friday, Barron had sold just 150 shirts and still owed the shirt company $2,000. He had planned to operate a booth at Pepperdine University, one of the sites for the Games, but the $40 fee wasn’t worth it.

“I have been selling them to friends and other Americans who know us,” Barron said. “We’ll see what happens after the Games, we have some time left.”

Jack and Maurine were both athletes in Iowa. Jack participated in football, basketball and track, but there wasn’t any Olympics for the deaf then. Maurine played basketball at the Iowa School for the Deaf and said she would have loved to play other sports, but they weren’t offered.

Both Jack and Maurine swear by the benefits of athletic competition and have passed that idea to their children.

Luanne is a member of the U.S. volleyball team, Stacia is the starting point guard on the U.S. basketball team, and Jack Jr. and Barry qualified for the wrestling team, but the competition was canceled because the Eastern Bloc pulled out because of financial reasons.

Jack Barron’s reason for pushing his children into athletics: “I didn’t want them to sit around and watch television. That’s just a waste. That’s the problem with kids and sports today. Television is such a negative influence.”

Jack, who would have liked to participate in the Games, is living vicariously through his children.

“The girls were easy, they didn’t need any pushing. The boys were a different story, though. I was really on them,” Jack said. “I feel like I’m playing when I watch them.”

Barry, the youngest American to qualify for the World Games for the Deaf, recognizes the benefits of his father’s urgings.

“I never would have even continued wrestling or had a chance to qualify without him being on me.”

Jack Jr., a postal service worker, did not make the trip due to the cancellation of wrestling.

“It is a great family thing for us, and we miss not having Jack Jr. here.” Jack Barron said.

But even though Barry is not participating, he still enjoys watching his sisters.

“I’m having a great time here, and the best thing is that I can watch my sisters play, and it feels great,” said Barry, pointing to his heart.

Barry will be one of the top wrestlers at the 1989 Games in New Zealand. But it will cost the Barrons about $6,000 per person to attend or participate. It just may be time for Jack Barron to get those fund-raising wheels churning again.