Portland Thorns and Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold (formerly of West Ham United) is a 3 time Olympian and 3 time women’s world cup attendee. Her senior career began at Perth Glory in 2011, where she made 10 appearances. She has also made 49 senior appearances for the Matildas and is currently their first choice goalkeeper. She has won the W-League Premiership twice, as well as winning the W-League Goalkeeper of the year award 3 times.
The 30 year old has opened up many times about her struggles with hearing loss. The 30 year old posted a video on her instagram account (@mackenziearnold) on April 15th 2023, sharing her experience of picking up her hearing aids.
Arnold had also touched on her hearing loss in October 2022 in a Matildas video, where she said ‘My hearings not great, I’m not going to lie. It’s probably about 70% hearing’ (Via Optus Sport).
She also spoke to the BBC on Football Focus, discussing what pushed her to get a hearing check. She said that ‘around Covid time, when everyone was wearing masks, I guess I started to sort of realise I was lip reading a lot more than I thought’ (Via BBC). Arnold also mentioned how her brother Sam has worn hearing aids his whole life, and gave her the final push to visit a hearing centre in London.
Arnold had spoken about how she had struggled with her hearing during her early twenties, often having to get people to repeat what they had said multiple times, however she did not think it was due to hearing loss, so put off getting her hearing checked.
She said being unable to hear if multiple people were talking during a conversation, she would tend to withdraw herself, which made her feel very isolated. At the time of the article being published, Arnold said she doesn’t wear her hearing aids during games or training, as she can hear the people around her, and also doesn’t want to damage them.
How does hearing loss affect Mackenzie during a game?
Being a goalkeeper, Arnold needs to be aware of her surroundings at all times. Having a significantly decreased hearing ability could result in Arnold being unaware of an oncoming press, despite her vision being fine. It could also majorly affect her during a corner, where she may not hear a shout of where the ball is landing, causing her to concede a goal.
Some types of hearing loss (specifically Meniere’s disease) can affect people's balance. Balance issues could make a player more susceptible to injuries like ankle sprains. Balance can also affect a person's centre of gravity meaning a player would have to put in extra work to maintain good balance.
Arnold has said her hearing loss doesn’t majorly affect her during a game, as she tends to only have to listen to the people close to her, mainly her team's defenders, or the opposition's attackers, any other communications can be made during half time.
Hearing loss in Australia
Better Health Victoria states that one in six Australians suffer with hearing loss. This can affect their social interactions as well as their mental health, due to their impaired ability to communicate with others. This can result in fewer job opportunities, particularly those that heavily rely on communication or teamwork.
There are two main types of hearing loss: conductive and sensorineural. Conductive hearing loss is caused by impact to the ear, as well as obstructions, for example build up of fluid in the ear cavity from allergies or colds, a hole in the ear drum, ear wax build up, or poor Eustachian tube function, which is the tube that connects your nose to your ear and allows fluid to drain out. Sensorineural hearing loss can come from illness, blows to the head, ageing, but can also be passed through the family.
To help with hearing loss, the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care recommends keeping background noise to a minimum, getting people to speak slower, louder and clearer, as well as communicating in other formats such as in writing, digitally or via sign language.
Signs of hearing loss
Hearing loss can be recognised from a very young age, with lots of children having delayed speech or language skills, a lack of response to loud noises, or needing things to be repeated a few times before being able to understand what has been said.
Infant screenings are widely available around the world, as well as fittings for hearing aids or cochlear implants. Despite both being devices to help with hearing, hearing aids and cochlear implants are very different.
Hearing aids amplify sounds, but only tend to be used when a person still has some level of hearing left. There are multiple types of hearing aids, from those that sit within the ear canal, to standard hearing aids which fit over the back of the ear.
Cochlear implants on the other hand bypass damaged portions of the ear, sending signals to be sent through the auditory nerve allowing the brain to process the sound signals. A cochlear implant also requires surgery, as well as therapy to help someone learn/relearn how to hear. They are mainly prescribed to people who have little hearing, or are entirely deaf.
Mackenzie Arnolds hearing loss journey
Arnold mentioned that the reason behind her posting her hearing loss journey, and her transition to hearing aids, was to reduce the stigma around deaf athletes. When speaking to the BBC, she mentioned that a lot of people had reached out to her saying she was an ‘inspiration’ for their children.
Arnold said it was a challenge to get used to the idea of ‘having to wear hearing aids for the rest of [her] life’, and although being daunted by the idea of having to wear hearing aids, she loves them now and feels as though they have positively affected her daily life.
She spoke about how when sat in the testing centre with her partner Kirsty Smith (of Scotland and West Ham United), Kirsty had mentioned she could hear the heavy rain outside, a sound which Mackenzie could not hear until she put her hearing aids in. Mackenzie also said after getting her hearing aids, she could hear sounds like the jingle of the keys in her partner's pocket while out on a walk, which was a frequency that was too high for her to hear without having her hearing aids in.
For further information on hearing loss and diagnosis, please follow the link below.
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