British-Tamil football player speaks on her success at the Deaflympics

Lucindha Lawson, a British-Tamil deaf football player from London, who won Bronze at the 2025 Deaflympics spoke to the Tamil Guardian about her medal winning journey.

The 34-year-old brought home the medal from Tokyo last month as part of the Great Britain (GB) Deaf Women’s Football team. 

The Deaflympics, the longest running multi-sport event after the Olympics, is a four yearly sports competition at which deaf athletes compete on an international platform at an elite level. This year’s Deaflympics was held in Tokyo, Japan and featured almost 3000 athletes from 79 nations competing in 18 sports.

Lucindha, along with the GB Deaf Women’s football team, secured third place after defeating Australia 2-0 in the bronze medal match.

Speaking to the Tamil Guardian after the win, she said, “this is the second time I’ve brought back a medal [from the Deaflympics]. It’s heavy! It’s weighted - quite substantial really!”

“It’s strange to think it’s already over.”

The Deaflympics attracted particular attention following Lucindha’s campaign on the BBC and social media in which it was revealed that athletes in the competition had to raise the competition expenses themselves.

This is despite the fact that the competition has been around longer than the Paralympic Games, and is sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee.

UK Deaf Sport, the National Governing Body for Deaf Sport, were invited to lobby in UK Parliament on behalf of deaf athletes but the athletes were not given any financial support typically available to elite teams and Lucindha had to raise the £4,000 herself.

In particular, Lucindha explained to Tamil Guardian that many of the deaf athletes had to ask the same groups of friends to donate to each fund, because of the close-knit nature of the deaf community and its supporters.

“The Deaflympics is a big part of deaf identity and culture,” says Lucindha, “I’ve been working internationally for the last 15 years and I’ve not seen any government support - so it would be really great if we could get to that point in the next four years [before the next games].”

Despite the lack of resources and costs involved, particularly with regards to self-funding interpreters and captions, she called the Deaflympics a ‘great experience’.

The full-time accountant had not originally planned to be in the Deaflympics, having taken a step back to focus on futsal instead (a 5-a-side adapted version of football), until another player’s broken foot required her to step up for her country. 

As one of the older players of the squad, she felt the highlight of the competition was simply spending time with the team.

“The best part for me was building a good relationship with the other team members, sharing my memories and being a role model to them,” said Lucindha, who also hopes to be a coach one day and support the next generation of deaf players. 

“I’m a deaf Asian person and I want to pass on my knowledge and pass on my mantle, [including] to others who identify as the same.”

The football player has had quite a journey growing up as a deaf Tamil person in the UK.

Born deaf from a genetic condition to hearing Tamil parents, she was initially home-schooled, a move she attributes to a lack of exposure and identity before she was placed in foster care at the age of seven. 

“Whilst I didn’t get to spend that time with my family, being in foster care helped me find who I was,” she says of the period from ages 7 to 16.

It was during this time that she attended Heathlands School for Deaf Children in St Albans and became interested in deaf sport. 

The boarding school, which had sports clubs including tennis, rugby and cricket, featured a deaf football club which introduced her to a world that would change her life.

“[Football] is a central sport for the deaf community,” said Lucindha, “[And] I really threw myself into it. I’d go to the pitch every day - at break times, lunch, after school - and really developed a love for it.”

Her knowledge and understanding of tactics and formations took her to the Great Britain women’s football team, and to the European championship in 2022, in which they won gold, something she calls her ‘proudest achievement’.

She hopes to replicate the success at this year’s European Deaf Futsal Championship which will be held in Croatia from March 9 to 22, and add another gold medal to her collection of bronze.

For now she is resting after her Deaflympics success (although forcedly thanks to a twisted ankle on her return from Japan) and is reflecting on her own success. 

“I never stop doing and I’m always doing something everyday. [But now] I’ve had to have a bit of a break, so in some ways it’s good!” laughs Lucindha.

Lucindha says that being Tamil has never held her back in the deaf community, considering herself as a ‘deaf player first and foremost’ and citing the unique challenges that all members of the deaf community face, but recognises her position as a role model for those of the next generation joining sports.

“I recognise that as a deaf person and woman of Tamil heritage, I can influence those who are Asian and female, hearing or deaf.”

She hopes to shine a light on the lack of deaf education, something she says is a key barrier to the inclusion of deaf people in society.

“I didn’t have a language from the age of zero to seven years old,” says Lucindha, “I was a victim of language deprivation and whilst I’ve learnt quicker and recovered quicker, I was one of the fortunate ones. 

“Parents are not given support [...] and for a lot of deaf children across the world, language deprivation impacts on their mental health and future development.”

She wants to put focus on deaf education, particularly in Asian communities, to support deaf children to have complex conversations and develop understanding of things like sport.

“[As a deaf child] If you excel in your language, you’ll excel in your sport.”

For now though, whilst she is determined to keep lobbying the government and campaigning for better access for deaf sportspeople and the deaf community at large, she is focusing on her next competition - with the Tamil community behind her.

“I just want to say to the Tamil community thank you for all the support over the last few years,” says Lucindha, “for supporting me personally and getting me to the Deaflympics and continuing to follow my journey.

“I’ll definitely be asking for support, and if anyone needs support from me I’m more than happy too - it’s a two way thing so please do reach out if there’s anything I can do to support you too.”

You can follow her on Instagram here.