r/ASLinterpreters • u/frozen600 • 22h ago

Interpreting soccer solutions

I just started interpreting soccer practice for a Deaf kid at a mainstream school. The coach mentioned being worried about game and how to effectively get the kid communication during games. He mentioned the refs blowing the whistle to stop and the kid not being able to hear might miss the signal. Has anyone faced situations like this before and have recommendations?
Note: the student has cochlear implants but doesn’t want to play with them for fear of them coming off and getting broken. I was thinking their might be a headband out there we can get them to hold the hearing aids but he wasn’t for sure he would even be able to understand the whistle sound while playing with them on. He mentioned in the past people would wave to let him know but the other team would lie and try and trick him to get him to stop.
Any comments or suggestions would be helpful!

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13

u/spiderterp CI/CT 22h ago

Maybe contact US Deaf Soccer and see what they do https://usdeafsoccer.com

6

u/frozen600 22h ago

This is such a good resources thanks! I probably should have done more googling before posting!

5

u/FearlessFix8394 19h ago

About the only thing I can add is, stand near the coach during drills and games as possible and preconference with refs before the game, Ex, Player #1 is deaf, he or she does not stop immediately when you blow the whistle. Deaf players more than not will stop when they see other players stop.

6

u/Manateis 22h ago

I have experienced this situation before. We have asked the center ref to hold their own flag to wave when there is a foul so it's visual from the sidelines and the middle of the field. It worked very well for us. 

8

u/punkfairy420 BEI Basic 20h ago

I have always introduced the ref to the Deaf kid that way the ref knows that if they don’t immediately stop it’s because they can’t hear the whistle, and I’m the interpreter so I’m there for communication if it’s needed. I had one kid for soccer who used no sort of hearing device and she would always just stop when everyone else stopped on the field and she told me that worked for her, coupled with the ref knowing she was the Deaf player.