When the bell rang at their house, she turned to the door. When the dog barked, she looked at the dog.

It was obvious that Alexis Knudtson would react whenever there was a significant noise. But what the Knudtsons soon learned was if a noise wasn't significant, their youngest daughter wouldn't react at all.

Some 13½ years later, Alexis Knudtson is one of the best freshman athletes, male or female, at Granite Bay High. She started every game at point guard for the Grizzlies girls basketball team, and she's currently starting as a forward for Granite Bay's girls soccer team. Her seven goals and six assists are second on the squad in both categories.

Knudtson has spoken for years, but her enunciation isn't crystal clear. She still hears louder noises on her own; as for quieter noises, she can hear some of those now too, with help from her hearing aid.

According to her parents, Knudtson is moderately to severely hearing impaired. With her hearing aid on, the hearing in her right ear is at the low end of what is considered normal. Her left ear, however, is significantly impaired with or without an aid.

But while Granite Bay teachers and coaches have taken provisions to adjust to her condition, Knudtson has had little trouble adjusting at Granite Bay.

"For someone to have a handicap like that, she doesn't show it," said Chris Roberts, Granite Bay's girls soccer coach. "If I didn't know she was deaf, I wouldn't (notice) it because of the way she carries herself."

" I don't know how much being deaf has to do with it, but she doesn't deal with all of that girl drama," former Granite Bay girls basketball coach Linda Dickson said. "She's going to be one heck of a player."

Both Roberts' and Dickson's in-game communication with Knudtson has been helped by a transistor device which allows them to get her attention without using signs. "They talk right to my hearing aid," Knudtson said of the one-way device. "It works good."

In the classroom Knudtson has fashioned a 3.75 grade-point average with help from a person provided by Granite Bay High who signs to her. However, said Bud Knudtson, "Around the house we don't sign to her. We communicate by voice."

Rarely have the Knudtsons had to make any major concessions to accommodate Alexis' hearing problem. While in grade school she attended Newcastle's Ophir School, which has a program for the hearing impaired. But by the fifth grade she transferred to Eureka Elementary School, then went to Cavitt Middle School, in large part due to her desire not to be totally separated from mainstream society.

Knudtson's athletic prowess aided her assimilation.

"Socially (sports) helped her handle it a lot," Bud Knudtson said. "She was popular because of it."

Specifically, she became popular because she was good, fast, quick and feisty. In one Grizzlies basketball game she fell to the floor so hard that some feared she was injured. Said Dickson, "My dad was sitting behind me and he said, 'Get her out of there.' But I said, 'No, she's mad now.' Sure enough, on the next play she took the ball to the basket and scored."

As good as Knudtson is in basketball - she averaged 10.1 points and 2.5 assists per game for the Grizzlies - soccer is her best and favorite sport. She is part of the Olympic Development Program and was recently selected as one of 30 girls from Northern California who will attend an Under-16 regional camp in Oregon in July.

At Granite Bay she has taken on the task of replacing prolific goal scorer Liz Harkin, whose senior season was cut short in February because of an ankle injury. Said Knudtson, "The first two games I had a lot of pressure on me. After that I had no pressure. I was more comfortable with the team."

One thing is certain, Knudtson's limited hearing hasn't limited her on or off the playing field, and likely won't anytime soon.

"Her hearing impairment has made her pretty perceptive," Bud Knudtson said. "Quite frankly it's been an advantage. She has deeper concentration, and I think that's helped her excel."

By Bruce Burton
http://www.thepresstribune.com/articles/2006/04/13/sports/local_sports/01soccer.txt