Athletes' Stories

Sam Cartledge

Sam gears up for busy few months

For Fitzroy North’s Sam Cartledge, the next few months are set to be action packed with the basketballer busily preparing for a number of key competitions. 

Starting in October, Sam will be heading to Taiwan for the Asia Pacific Deaf Championships as part of the Australian Deaf basketball team. The 21-year-old is the vice-captain of the team which is aiming to improve on the bronze medal won at the 2012 Games in South Korea.

“The team will be in Taiwan attempting to win its first ever gold medal in Australian Deaf basketball history, which has been a major aim for the squad since I was first selected to represent my country,” Sam said.

“To win the gold medal would mean a lot and would show that all the sacrifices that we have made are starting to pay off,” Sam said.

But he won’t have much time to relax when returning, with the Australian Deaf Games set to kick off in January in Adelaide. Sam, who has cochlear implants, will represent his home state of NSW at the Australian Games where he is also hoping to take the gold medal. 

Showing his sporting prowess, Sam is also hoping to compete in the touch football and beach volleyball competitions at the Australian Deaf Games.

On the Australian Deaf Games, Sam said that he is “looking forward to having fun, winning and catching up with friends and athletes from all over Australia.”

The Australian Deaf Games are being held from 9-16 January 2016 where more than 1,000 Deaf and hard of hearing people from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa will converge on Adelaide for the pinnacle multi-sport Deaf event in Australia. Held every four years, the 2016 Australian Deaf Games will have 15 sports on offer including cricket, netball, basketball, rugby 7s and cricket.

Outside of his Deaf basketball and other sport commitments, Sam is also a member of the Sherbrooke Suns Big V Championship Youth Team which sees him compete against the best youth teams across Melbourne. And in between sports, he also juggles three jobs with Australian Hearing, Deaf Sports Australia and Hear for You. Each of these organisations have somehow touched Sam in his life, which is why he has sought to work for them.

“I want to give back to the people and organisations that got me where I am today. I can see myself continuing to work with organisations that address hearing loss and deafness. I believe that to work in this field, you have to know that everyone’s perspective on being Deaf is difference which is something I believe I bring to all of my jobs.”