‘A Coach’s Dream:’ She Never Let Hearing Issues Slow Her Down

University of New Hampshire women's hockey coach Hilary Witt is on a roll. And she knows it.

Witt rattles off a list of the reasons she has loved having Grace Middleton (Midland, Mich.) on her team over the last four years.

She talks about what a coachable kid Grace is. How respectful. How great of a teammate she is. How she's funny and hard-working, always willing to do what's asked of her.

"She's unique, an amazing kid," Witt said. "Her teammates love here. I don't think you could find anyone to say one bad thing about her. She's everything you'd want in a friend. She's an outstanding human . . . "

And then Witt catches herself . . . if just for a moment.

"I probably sound silly saying all this," she added. "But she is definitely a kid you want to go have a cup of coffee with. She's thoughtful, smart, witty, nice. She's confident, but has so much humility. She's just a kid you'd want to have as a neighbor, you'd want to have a chat with."

For all these reasons – and more – Witt nominated senior forward Grace Middleton for this year's Coaches' Award, an honor given out each year to a senior student-athlete. Middleton won the award at the UNH Senior Showcase.

The criteria for the award reads like this: "A senior student-athlete who has a compelling story worth recognizing on or off the field of play that has impacted his/her team or university in an outstanding/positive/memorable way. The award recognizes a student-athlete that has either overcome adversity, or is an unsung hero, or is leader of the team, or someone that has gone above and beyond what is expected."

Middleton has gone above and beyond throughout her UNH career and she's done it while dealing with a challenge faced by few, if any, of her student-athlete colleagues.

Grace was born with Bilateral Congenital hearing loss. She was diagnosed at age 4 and has worn hearing aids in both ears since.

She's never let that slow her down, on or off the ice.

"The hearing aids have always helped tremendously," Middleton said. "But when I play hockey, or sports in general, I don't wear them under my helmet. I don't like how they feel in my helmet and if they get sweaty, it's not good for them. So it can be tough hearing my teammates and coaches."

She usually can figure out what teammates are saying on the ice.

"It can be hard on the ice, but most of the time people are screaming for the puck," Middleton said with a laugh. "I get the idea. If I miss something else, we talk about it on the bench after the shift."

The latter approach is the same she used with Witt and the other coaches. She's always ready to seek them out and ask extra questions if she feels she missed something.

This past COVID-19-impacted season had Grace asking more questions than usual.

"It has been especially challenging," Middleton said. "One of the skills you use with any hearing loss is developing the ability to read lips and with everyone wearing masks, that's been a lot more challenging. But it's been fine because my teammates and coaches have been great and have really helped me out. Coach would say something and I'd let her finish and come over and ask what she said and she'd understand completely."

Grace was being Grace while dealing with the added adversity, Witt said.

"I think it's because she's a kid who when things get hard, she just works harder," the coach said. "She's not trying to hide this extra piece of her that makes things a little more challenging. She doesn't use it like, 'poor me, I can't do this because . . .' Honestly, I think it comes from her parents. They're so supportive and believe in her so much."

Middleton doesn't shy from the challenge a bit, Witt said.

"She's such a humble, quiet kid, but she's the type that's not afraid to tell her story," the coach added. "She wants other kids who have the same situation to know what she did and know they can be a Division I athlete, too."

On the ice, Middleton didn't score as often as she would have liked during her career, Witt noted. But she had a pair of huge goals against Providence in the Hockey East quarterfinals in her junior year to help propel the Wildcats into the conference semifinals for the first time in a decade.

She was always prepared and ready to take on any role asked of her and willing and eager to work on all parts of her game.

For example, her shot needed work early on.

"She took her shot off the wrong foot," Witt said. "It's hard to change that habit at this age. She came back sophomore year and her shot was harder and more accurate with more power. She took what we said and worked on it. She'd do everything she could to get better. Her ability to adapt is impressive. I absolutely loved coaching her. I'm going to miss her. She's a coach's dream and the epitome of what a Coach's Award is about."

Grace will miss her team and UNH, too. She picked the school as a recruit because the campus and area reminded her of home in Midland, Mich., and she's loved the culture of the team and her teammates.

She's been a regular on the American Hockey Coaches Association All-Scholar and Hockey East All Academic teams and is finishing up her degree in Kinesiology: Exercise Science. She'll stay in the area to do a 10-week internship with the Seacoast Spine & Sports Injuries Clinic this summer and plans to go to graduate school for physical therapy next year.

"My family is very health care-oriented (her father is an orthopedic surgeon and her mother was a nurse) and that's partly were I got the idea of PT," Middleton said. "I love the idea of being involved with people, helping any way I can. With my athletic background I think I'd like to work in a clinic where you're dealing with people who have athletics-related injuries."

Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results