Just a kid from Norway: Ortman ready to represent the US in Argentina

Norway graduate Alex Ortman (4) drives to the basket for a layup against West Iron County on Jan. 25 at Norway High School. On Thursday, Ortman will suit up for Team USA in the 2024 DIBF World Deaf Basketball Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Sean Chase/IMDN file photo)
NORWAY — After helping lead the Norway varsity baseball team to its best finish in program history, state runner-up in Division 4, Alex Ortman has a chance to add to his impressive athletic resume before heading off to college.
On Thursday, Ortman will represent the United States in the 2024 Deaf International Basketball Federation U21 World Deaf Basketball Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The United States’ first game is at the National Center of High Performance Athletics against Ukraine at 1:30 p.m. Argentina Standard Time. That is three hours ahead of Central Standard Time.
“I feel like it means everything to me,” Ortman said. “Being able to play for my country means everything to me.
“I’m very excited. It’s an incredible honor to represent the United States, Norway and Dickinson County.”
Ortman is no stranger to success on the basketball court. He ended his career second in all-time for scoring at Norway with 1,226 career points.
“You’re not playing for a little town, you’re playing for the whole United States,” Ortman said. “It’s a surreal feeling like I can’t believe it’s happening.”
While Ortman has dealt with the shock of representing the United States, he’s looking forward to leaving it all on the court.
“I think I’m going to play more aggressively in Argentina because I have nothing to lose,” Ortman said. “Playing for your country, you have to give it everything you got, right?
“I got to give my country everything I got on the court, every drop of sweat.”
And to top it off, he isn’t the only Ortman to have the opportunity to represent his country on the basketball court. His brother, Connor, played in the tournament in 2018.
“(This opportunity) means a lot more than what most people would think,” Ortman said. “It means a lot to me that we were both able to do this.”
For Alex, following Connor’s lead got him into the game.
“It was in the basement,” Ortman said. “My dad was trying to teach my brother how to dribble between his legs, and I was a little child and started doing it too. Then we went to the gym the next day. And of course, little me couldn’t throw the ball that high, so I just did the dribbling. That’s how it started.”
It also adds a bit of pressure on the younger brother especially since Connor’s team brought home the gold medal six years ago when the competition was held in Washington D.C.
“It fuels me to be the second brother to win gold,” Ortman said.
Due to work, Steve Ortman wasn’t able to stay in Washington D.C. to watch his son Connor compete for the gold.
“I missed all of it,” he said. “My wife and Alex and my sister, they all stayed out there, so they got to experience it. So this time, we are leaving Friday. We are going there to watch, yeah, I couldn’t be prouder.”
And that goes for both of his sons.
“Both of these boys have accomplished more than we ever imagined that they would ever be able to do,” Steve Ortman said. “When you have a kid with a disability, your parenting changes a little and you find yourself wanting them to achieve more because they’re already behind everyone else.”
For Steve, seeing his sons play on this level was unimaginable when he was informed they were deaf.
Like his brother, Alex was born with hearing loss.
“We grieved their hearing loss, just like any other loss,” Steve said. “And it took the people at the Children’s Hospital to show us, ‘Hey, this isn’t the final whatever. Look at what you can do.’
“And the cochlear implant that my boys have gotten is the greatest invention that our family will ever know or see because it enables them to live a more normal life if normal is the right word.”
The implant has helped Alex so much that most people wouldn’t guess he is deaf.
“Most people probably don’t even realize how hard it is for him to hear and communicate because they’re not around him as much as we are,” Steve said. “And it’s a credit to them that they’ve done everything in their power to get to where they are. And it’s an accomplishment for him, way more than it is for us. We allowed him to become the young man that he is, and he achieved it.”
Earning his spot
To get his name in the mix for a spot on the team, Ortman flew down to Indianapolis in July 2023 to try out.
“I think there were close to 30 or 40 kids,” Ortman said. “They came from everywhere, all over the country. California, Texas, New York. It was packed.”
After leaving it all on the floor, it took some time for the final roster to be released.
“I think it was a month or so, and then they sent me a big email that said I was selected out of the many players to represent the United States,” Ortman said. “I was shaking reading the news.”
To say he was excited is an understatement.
“One of the kids on the team emailed him and said, ‘Hey, check your email. Call me back,'” Steve Ortman said. “And then, I hear him screaming upstairs.”
Style of play
While gold is the goal, the style of play will be vastly different than Ortman is used to as competitors aren’t allowed to use hearing aids. This means Ortman will have to play without his cochlear implant, which he has had since he was four-and-a-half years old.
However, Ortman isn’t worried.
“I feel like I’ll play better,” he said. “I don’t have to worry about it coming off.”
Steve Ortman agreed.
“For him in these gyms, he has a horrible time hearing anything anyway because there’s so much sound he can’t distinguish,” he said. “You know, so when we go to other gyms, and they would give him a hard time chanting, it wouldn’t matter. It was just noise.”
What’s next
Once Ortman returns from Argentina, he will be packing up and heading to Washington D.C. on Aug. 2. He’ll attend Gallaudet University to play basketball and baseball.
“It is very nerve-racking,” Ortman said. “I have like, two or three days to rest and pack. Then I leave right away.”
However, it isn’t his first time in the Washington D.C. area.
“I’ve been there a couple of times,” Ortman said. “We went there when I was younger. When my brother played for the USA in 2018. … I took a visit there in December also. So I’m kind of familiar with the area.”
Although it is hard to send his youngest son out into the world, Steve is confident he is prepared.
“Eventually, you have to make your decision on leaving the nest,” Steve said. “He’s old enough now to know what is right and wrong. And he’ll be fine.”
All the games from the 2024 DIBF World Deaf Basketball Championships will be streamed online at https://www.youtube.com/@DIBFOfficial.