Evergreen Jr. High Football Player Lacks Sight, Not Heart

He had a bus to catch, but first Jamie Tachiyama had to put away his pads and his jersey. He walked into the equipment room at Evergreen Junior High School in Redmond to find his hanger.

Most of his teammates on Evergreen's junior varsity football team already had left the locker room. Tachiyama's hanger was not where he left it. The room was a mess. Hangers were missing or on the floor. The room was tumble of mismatched pads, jerseys, and helmets. Tachiyama began to pick through the shuffle, no simple feat because Tachiyama is blind.

He is not hopelessly near-sighted, or even legally blind. He is totally blind. Every minute of the day might as well be midnight. He cannot recognize shapes, colors or light.

``Can I help you find your hanger?'' Tachiyama's sighted companion said.

``Sure,'' Tachiyama said.

Each hanger is marked by a strip of athletic tape, with the player's name written on it. The strip of tape hangs off the neck of each hanger. The strip of tape is Tachiyama's only guide.

``Here it is,'' he said, pulling his hanger from behind a thicket of shoulder pads. It was hidden in such a way that Tachiyama's companion never would have seen it. But Tachiyama's hands recognized the tape, curled and folded on the end to form a socket for a searching index finger.

``I rely on little things like this,'' Tachiyama said.

Little things are all he needs to get by on this football

team. Things like having his teammates shout his name when the ball is hiked, or a helpful shove in the right direction, or a few extra seconds to line up. With a few little things, Tachiyama is able to play football.

``We treat him as any other player,'' said Steve Jones, the assistant J.V. coach who works with the linemen. ``He performs with that extra effort, call it desire or heart. It's that intangible quality I wish every kid had.''

Tachiyama, 14, plays both ways for the Evergreen Eagles, center on offense and nose guard on defense. Jones and head coach Frank McMahon are not making a charity case for Tachiyama, they are playing him where he plays best.

``This is a team game and he's part of the team,'' McMahon said. ``He's an emotional leader. Everyone around him thinks he's great. I almost never think about Jamie being blind. I'm yelling at him as much as I yell at anybody.''

Tachiyama, who is 5-foot-5 and weighs 147 pounds, has been blind since age 5. Cancer took away his eyesight, something that he vaguely remembers.

``Everyone asks me if I can remember,'' he said. ``I wish I could remember more. I remember colors and cartoon characters. I think being able to see a little when I was young gave me an edge.''

If Tachiyama can hear a voice, he knows exactly where he is. His sense of hearing has sharpened to the point where he can hear movement. In last week's game against Kirkland, he charged into the line, felt the ball in an opponent's hand and tackled him.

Tachiyama also wrestles and runs track. His events are the 400 meters and the shot put. He came out for football after hearing about a blind college football player in North Carolina.

``I thought if he can do it, I'm sure I can do it,'' Tachiyama said. ``I like hitting, making the contact and maneuvering.''

McMahon said he was concerned at first about Tachiyama's ability to block, but has since discovered that Tachiyama has no problems plugging the middle. The Eagles are now 1-1 after a 26-7 victory over Redmond and a 2-0 loss to Kirkland.

``I hope to open up things for others,'' Tachiyama said. ``Other blind people don't always have as much courage. Hearing about someone else opened it up for me, maybe I can open it up for someone else.''