But first to a team that defied expectations. In 2021, the football team at the

California School for the Deaf made it to the state championships but suffered a

disappointing loss.

In 2022 and 2023, they made it back and won.

Now a new book chronicles that historic run and the abilities that make these players particularly formidable on the field.

Stephanie Sigh has a look for our ongoing coverage of the intersection of health and arts,

part of our canvas coverage.

At the California School for the Deaf Riverside, the Cubs are gearing up for a three-peat.

Coach Keith Adams, here using sign language to call place, has led the team to two state

championships in their eight-man football division.

But it wasn't always this way.

The decades old scoreboard hearkens to a time when the Cubs rarely had winning seasons.

That ended in 2021, when they entered the championship undefeated.

You had all of these deaf players who when they were younger had played on hearing teams and it was very frustrating. So all of these

players came together here and they felt this brotherhood, they felt this brotherhood.

They felt this camaraderie.

And I think that was part of the winning formula.

Journalist and author Thomas Fuller started following the Cubs in the fall of 2021.

His New York Times article described the rise

of the all deaf team, which beat hearing teams

time and again that year. Underneath these Friday night lights, there is something special happening.

The article attracted national media attention by the likes of the Kelly Clarkson show

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