ATTLEBORO, Mass. —

Most athletes utilize all five senses to gain an advantage on the field or court, but some are special enough to excel with just four.

You don’t need trained ears to know when a soccer ball is kicked well. That means when Tia Labrecque's on the field, you don't have to listen much at all.

“She got diagnosed through the newborn hearing screenings at the hospital before we left, and we just thought, ‘there's no way she could have a hearing loss,'" Tia's mother, Kim Labrecque, said. "Sure enough, she needed hearing aids. We needed to learn a new language, but that's just part of who she is.”

Legally deaf since birth, the 16-year-old hasn't known much else.

“It's basically just what I live with. I do it every day. I've done basically nothing besides soccer, and I've jus

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