Miss-Delectable
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http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060707/NEWS08/607070364/1001/NEWS12
It's time to warm up, there's one more game today, Thursday. It's the sixth match for this South Carolina soccer team. Sure, the athletes are a little tired. But they love playing. And they're pretty good.
The nine male players, ages 16 to 21, stretch. The goalie throws on his long-sleeve black jersey. The coaches offer encouragement — even if they're tired, even if it's hot, the coaches say, they can win this game.
But it's quiet. There are just the sounds of cleats slapping soccer balls, jerseys swishing and the occasional laugh as a ball escapes.
All of the players on this team are deaf, and so is one of their coaches. It's not a problem when they play other teams, because they can lip-read and the coaches are usually around to interpret. And most teenagers will find a way to talk, even if not in spoken words.
"It doesn't matter," said coach Joe Johnson, a deaf physical education teacher at a school for the deaf in Spartanburg, S.C., that all of these players attend. "They will learn from anyone."
The exciting moments come not when the team wins yet another game. It's not when the players receive yet another medal. The most memorable moments for these players, their coaches say, are when they spot another person signing or when someone walks up to them and starts a conversation with his hands. It's just not something they normally experience.
"At lunch, the gymnastics coach from Kentucky started signing with them," said coach Kevin Russell, a language arts teacher at the school who says he is more a cheerleader than a coach. "They are always just so amazed when they look over and see someone signing."
It's time to warm up, there's one more game today, Thursday. It's the sixth match for this South Carolina soccer team. Sure, the athletes are a little tired. But they love playing. And they're pretty good.
The nine male players, ages 16 to 21, stretch. The goalie throws on his long-sleeve black jersey. The coaches offer encouragement — even if they're tired, even if it's hot, the coaches say, they can win this game.
But it's quiet. There are just the sounds of cleats slapping soccer balls, jerseys swishing and the occasional laugh as a ball escapes.
All of the players on this team are deaf, and so is one of their coaches. It's not a problem when they play other teams, because they can lip-read and the coaches are usually around to interpret. And most teenagers will find a way to talk, even if not in spoken words.
"It doesn't matter," said coach Joe Johnson, a deaf physical education teacher at a school for the deaf in Spartanburg, S.C., that all of these players attend. "They will learn from anyone."
The exciting moments come not when the team wins yet another game. It's not when the players receive yet another medal. The most memorable moments for these players, their coaches say, are when they spot another person signing or when someone walks up to them and starts a conversation with his hands. It's just not something they normally experience.
"At lunch, the gymnastics coach from Kentucky started signing with them," said coach Kevin Russell, a language arts teacher at the school who says he is more a cheerleader than a coach. "They are always just so amazed when they look over and see someone signing."