Former Owen soccer player takes her game to the international stage
Mia McMurry to join U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team in 2023 World Deaf Football Championship
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
September 15, 2023
Mia McMurry, a multi-sport athlete at Owen High School before graduating in the summer, has been named to the U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team, which will compete in the 2023 World Deaf Football Championship, Sept. 20 - Oct. 8, in Malaysia. Photo by Fred McCormick
Mia McMurry was only a few weeks removed from her final game in maroon and white, last July, as she boarded a plane for Champaign, Illinois. The 2023 Owen High School graduate, a four-year multi-sport varsity athlete with the Warlassies, was looking forward to the next chapter of her soccer career this fall, as a freshman for the Meredith College Avenging Angels.
Her journey in the sport she’s been playing since she was 5, however, will include a detour she never imagined, when she suits up in red, white and blue, from Wednesday, Sept. 20 - Sunday, Oct. 8, in the 2023 World Deaf Football Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
McMurry is one of six defenders on the U.S Women’s Deaf Nation Team 22-player roster, released, Sept. 7, by head coach Amy Griffin.
“It’s really the opportunity of a lifetime,” McMurry said of earning a spot on the team, which is undefeated in international play, winning all six world championship events it has entered. “Being selected to represent your country in a sport you love on an international stage is such an amazing honor.”
Athletics have been part of McMurry’s life for as long as she can remember.
“I started playing when I was 5,” she said. “I got into soccer and basketball around the same time, while I was doing ballet, and I quickly pushed ballet to the side. I competed in both of those sports for most of my life, but I really grew to love the sport of soccer.”
McMurry had been participating in the sport for nearly three years when gradual hearing loss necessitated her first cochlear implant. She received her second at the age of 11.
“I had hearing aids before I got the implants, so I had to adapt at a pretty young age,” she said. “I feel like it’s gotten a little easier over the years, but I still have trouble hearing people and knowing where they are because sound travels, and I don’t always know the direction a voice came from.”
As a player in the Asheville Buncombe Youth Soccer Association, and later the Highland Football Club, McMurry shaped her game around a continuous awareness on the field. Off the field, throughout her careers at Owen Middle and High Schools, the sport gave her perspective.
Mia McMurry plays in her final season for the Owen Warlassies last spring, before she was selected as a member of the U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team, which will compete in the 2023 World Deaf Football Championship. Photo by Fred McCormick
“I’ve been fortunate to be part of some amazing teams,” she said. “I’ve learned so much about life while playing soccer, because you really get a sense of teamwork, how to work in a group, and you learn a lot about how to speak up and be a leader.”
By her freshman year in high school, those lessons proved valuable when McMurry earned a spot on the varsity soccer team.
“I’m a pretty humble person, but I was hoping to play varsity soccer as a freshman,” she said. “So, making the team that year gave me a big confidence boost, and I felt like all the work I had put in to that point was paying off.”
Her first two seasons on the Warlassies program were dedicated to figuring out how to best help the team, according to McMurry.
“I looked for ways to lift up other players who might be struggling with something, and always tried to find ways to set a good example,” she said. “I just set high expectations for myself and tried to reach those, which is really all about putting in the work.”
She employed the same mindset on the cross country course, tennis and basketball courts and in the classroom, graduating with a 4.0 grade point average. While balancing demanding academic and athletic schedules could be difficult, McMurry was supported by her mother, Meg Turner, who served as Owen principal for 11 years before stepping down in 2022.
“As a senior, I realized how nice it was to have her there,” McMurry said. “There was always one person around who I knew very well, and her being there with me helped make high school such a positive experience.”
By the time she entered her senior campaign last spring, McMurry had already signed to continue her career at Meredith College.
“I really wanted to find ways to keep improving on the field, which is what I hope to do in college, as well,” said McMurry, who had a chance encounter last season with the family member of a teammate approached her about an opportunity she had never considered.
“She was on the staff of the USWDNT, and she wanted to talk to me,” she said. “At first I couldn’t believe it, but she came and watched me play. It was a really bad game for me, but she told me she thought I had the skill level and could contribute to the national team.”
McMurry was initially unsure about the endeavor until a video call with Griffin, who has coached the USWDNT since 2015.
“I liked her immediately, and she told me she believed I could help the team,” said McMurry, who was invited to USWDNT training camp at the University of Illinois last summer.
She discovered the game of soccer had plenty of new challenges in store for her, including playing without her cochlear implants, as players who qualify for the team must have a hearing loss of at least 55 decibels in their “better ear.”
Mia McMurry participates in the U.S. Women’s Deaf National Soccer Team training camp, July 7 - 14, in Champaign, Illinois. McMurry is one of 22 players who will represent their country in the 2023 World Deaf Football Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sept. 20 - Oct. 8. Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Wurster/U.S Women’s Deaf National Team
“I was nervous and excited,” she said. “I can’t hear without them, and I had never played without them before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was another adaptation, but it was funny because I had to adapt to wearing them all the time, and now I had to adapt to not having them.”
As she settled into camp, McMurry focused on crafting her play to fit the team.
“I didn’t know anyone coming into it, so figuring out communication was hard for me, because I’m not fluent in lip-reading or American Sign Language (ASL),” she said. “I took sign language class in elementary school, but nothing more than that, so I tried to pick up as much as I could. Ultimately, I had to trust the other players, because the all know how to play the game.”
The experience was “eye-opening,” McMurry added.
“It’s like finding your community,” she said. “It was really the first time I spent time with so many people who struggled with, or understood, all of the things I’ve been through. It’s something I’ll always remember.”
Her trip to Southeast Asia will likely be just as unforgettable for the 18-year-old.
“I couldn’t really have imagined any of this,” she said. “I’ve put so much into this game, and it has given a lot back, but having the chance to go to Malaysia and represent the country on this level just feels kind of unbelievable. I can’t wait.”