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Southington's St. Amand Just A Volleyball Player -- Courant.com
Brittany Volpe met Elyse St. Amand in seventh grade when they were travel basketball teammates.
Some of the other kids who didn't know St. Amand, Volpe recalled, were afraid to talk to her.
"I didn't treat her any differently," Volpe said. "She said, 'You're the only one that wanted to talk to me.' I was like, 'I wanted to know.' It's so cool communicating without speaking. I can talk to her about things that people don't know we're talking about."
St. Amand, a senior at Southington, was born deaf. Watching her play volleyball for fifth-ranked Southington (15-0), you'd be hard-pressed to point her out from the rest of the group. That's just the way it is. Nobody thinks of St. Amand as a deaf volleyball player. She's simply a volleyball player.
That is, until coach Rich Heitz stops practice to make a point. Heitz, a little sheepishly, admits he hasn't learned sign language, even though St. Amand is the second deaf player he has coached. Her mother, Laurie, or Volpe, or another interpreter, steps in to translate.
The rest of the time, even Heitz forgets that St. Amand can't hear.
"I do," he said. "With her, I honestly forget."
Many of her teammates now know sign language and can signal back and forth where to put the ball on the other side of the net, or the setter can sign to St. Amand to be ready for a particular set.
"She helps us as a team communicate better, because we're not only verbally communicating, we're trying to get inside each other's minds before the ball gets there," Volpe said. "It makes us quicker on the court. Rather than waiting to hear it, we see it so we're on the same page as her."
The most difficult part for St. Amand, a starting outside hitter who has 80 kills and 75 digs, is when play happens behind her. Her court vision is more acute than most players, but she can't see everything all the time.
"Volleyball's harder than basketball," she said, with her mother interpreting. "Basketball, you know what's going to happen. They have plays. I could see everything going on on the court. Volleyball, you can't always see behind you.
"In my opinion, it's hard to play the front [in volleyball]. I can't hear the setter saying where she's going. I have to be ready all the time."
If they scream loudly enough, Volpe said, sometimes St. Amand can feel the vibration or sense that something is happening.
"We just try to keep the ball as individually placed as possible so she knows who's getting it," said Volpe, a defensive specialist. "We're using our hands so she knows. Her head is always on the ball. We know she's watching."
Laurie started Elyse in sports early. At age 5, she was playing baseball and basketball and she played softball and basketball through her sophomore year at Southington.
Her mother was her basketball coach when she was younger.
"I always would tell the referees she was deaf, in case they blew the whistle and she kept playing, they wouldn't give us a penalty for it," Laurie said. "I told this one ref and he had to go look at her to make sure she didn't have three eyes or something. She turned around and said, 'Hi, how are you?' He gave me the dirtiest look. He thought I was lying."
Elyse can speak. She is vocal when she signs. She is animated when she talks about volleyball.
"It's my passion," she said. "I love it."
Basketball and softball went by the wayside. Heitz began to play her more at every position last year.
"About five or six years ago, I had contacted somebody with the USA deaf national team," Heitz said. "He said the best way is for them to learn all the positions, to understand what everybody else's job is.
"There are certain positions that are more favorable for her. She's playing left back on defense. She can pretty much see everything that's going on in front of her. Middle hitter or middle blocker is a little harder because a lot of the action is behind her. She's a very good defensive player. This year, she's been an outside hitter, she plays the whole game."
She went to a volleyball camp for deaf players in Indiana and played Connecticut Juniors club volleyball last winter. Colleges such as R.I.T. National Technical Institute for the Deaf in New York and Gallaudet in Washington have expressed interest in St. Amand. Rhode Island College is also interested, but Laurie is unsure if the college will have support services for her daughter.
Because Elyse learned American Sign Language as her first language, she still struggles sometimes with the idioms and nuances of English. She has an interpreter at school.
"She's been doing very well with it," Laurie said. "She's come a long, long way."
She likes math and history, art and animals. What does she want to do in the future? "Play volleyball!" St. Amand said enthusiastically.
She didn't misunderstand the question. That's what she wants to do.
Brittany Volpe met Elyse St. Amand in seventh grade when they were travel basketball teammates.
Some of the other kids who didn't know St. Amand, Volpe recalled, were afraid to talk to her.
"I didn't treat her any differently," Volpe said. "She said, 'You're the only one that wanted to talk to me.' I was like, 'I wanted to know.' It's so cool communicating without speaking. I can talk to her about things that people don't know we're talking about."
St. Amand, a senior at Southington, was born deaf. Watching her play volleyball for fifth-ranked Southington (15-0), you'd be hard-pressed to point her out from the rest of the group. That's just the way it is. Nobody thinks of St. Amand as a deaf volleyball player. She's simply a volleyball player.
That is, until coach Rich Heitz stops practice to make a point. Heitz, a little sheepishly, admits he hasn't learned sign language, even though St. Amand is the second deaf player he has coached. Her mother, Laurie, or Volpe, or another interpreter, steps in to translate.
The rest of the time, even Heitz forgets that St. Amand can't hear.
"I do," he said. "With her, I honestly forget."
Many of her teammates now know sign language and can signal back and forth where to put the ball on the other side of the net, or the setter can sign to St. Amand to be ready for a particular set.
"She helps us as a team communicate better, because we're not only verbally communicating, we're trying to get inside each other's minds before the ball gets there," Volpe said. "It makes us quicker on the court. Rather than waiting to hear it, we see it so we're on the same page as her."
The most difficult part for St. Amand, a starting outside hitter who has 80 kills and 75 digs, is when play happens behind her. Her court vision is more acute than most players, but she can't see everything all the time.
"Volleyball's harder than basketball," she said, with her mother interpreting. "Basketball, you know what's going to happen. They have plays. I could see everything going on on the court. Volleyball, you can't always see behind you.
"In my opinion, it's hard to play the front [in volleyball]. I can't hear the setter saying where she's going. I have to be ready all the time."
If they scream loudly enough, Volpe said, sometimes St. Amand can feel the vibration or sense that something is happening.
"We just try to keep the ball as individually placed as possible so she knows who's getting it," said Volpe, a defensive specialist. "We're using our hands so she knows. Her head is always on the ball. We know she's watching."
Laurie started Elyse in sports early. At age 5, she was playing baseball and basketball and she played softball and basketball through her sophomore year at Southington.
Her mother was her basketball coach when she was younger.
"I always would tell the referees she was deaf, in case they blew the whistle and she kept playing, they wouldn't give us a penalty for it," Laurie said. "I told this one ref and he had to go look at her to make sure she didn't have three eyes or something. She turned around and said, 'Hi, how are you?' He gave me the dirtiest look. He thought I was lying."
Elyse can speak. She is vocal when she signs. She is animated when she talks about volleyball.
"It's my passion," she said. "I love it."
Basketball and softball went by the wayside. Heitz began to play her more at every position last year.
"About five or six years ago, I had contacted somebody with the USA deaf national team," Heitz said. "He said the best way is for them to learn all the positions, to understand what everybody else's job is.
"There are certain positions that are more favorable for her. She's playing left back on defense. She can pretty much see everything that's going on in front of her. Middle hitter or middle blocker is a little harder because a lot of the action is behind her. She's a very good defensive player. This year, she's been an outside hitter, she plays the whole game."
She went to a volleyball camp for deaf players in Indiana and played Connecticut Juniors club volleyball last winter. Colleges such as R.I.T. National Technical Institute for the Deaf in New York and Gallaudet in Washington have expressed interest in St. Amand. Rhode Island College is also interested, but Laurie is unsure if the college will have support services for her daughter.
Because Elyse learned American Sign Language as her first language, she still struggles sometimes with the idioms and nuances of English. She has an interpreter at school.
"She's been doing very well with it," Laurie said. "She's come a long, long way."
She likes math and history, art and animals. What does she want to do in the future? "Play volleyball!" St. Amand said enthusiastically.
She didn't misunderstand the question. That's what she wants to do.
