Huntingdon soccer player wins gold medal with U.S. Deaf Women’s National Team

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Erin Cembrale has been on the go since she was a toddler.

“I used to run into the walls and stuff,” Cembrale said. “So my Mom took me to the doctor and was like “What is wrong with my child?’”

The doctor suggested Cembrale try the sport of soccer. Ever since she was three years old, Cembrale has been dribbling a soccer ball. She grew up playing travel and high school ball and eventually ended up at Huntingdon college. Cembrale, now a senior, just experienced what it was like to win a gold medal, but it wasn’t with the Hawks.

Cembrale joined the U.S. Deaf Women’s National Team in 2021 and in May, the team won gold in the Deaflympics in Brazil. In the finals against Poland, Cembrale scored a goal to help the team win the game.

“All of us just went running,” Cembrale said after the game went to penalty kicks. “All of us were like holy cow we just won.”

Cembrale had her first hearing aid at 6-weeks-old.

“Some certain sounds would scare me and stuff,” Cembrale said. “My siblings would be like yeah you’re deaf.”

But that didn’t stop her from achieving her goals. The biggest adjustment Cembrale had to make while playing for the USDWNT team was taking out her hearing aid.

“I’ve never played without my hearing aids so I was kind of like…I don’t know what I’m suppose to do right now,” Cembale said.

But Cembrale said she eventually got used to it and actually likes not hearing the noise while playing.

The USDWNT team has won a gold medal in every Deaflympics since 2005 and has never lost an international game. It’s just another reason why Cembrale says you should be paying attention to what this team is doing.

“We all have a great story behind us we are all very inspired and stuff so i believe more people should look out for us,” Cembrale said.

She will travel to South Korea in May 2023 to compete in the World Cup.