Athlete isn’t letting deafness stop her
Monday, March 03, 2008 By Bob Slovak
HOUSTON (KTRK) — The high school softball season getting into full
swing around the area. Out at Cy Ridge, there’s a player who knows no
limitations.
Her name is Gwen Haley. She’s deaf, but that has never stopped her
when it comes to taking the field.
Haley has an infectious smile. She also has a pretty good swing. Gwen
is getting ready for her first season on the Rams’ varsity team. But
for Gwen, there is no ping of the bat, no pop of the glove. She was
born deaf. But in Gwen, you have a player you can’t silence.
“Actually softball comes very easy naturally to me,” said Gwen
through signer Patti Lury,
Gwen and Patti have teamed together for the last 11 years. Softball
is their second sport this year. Gwen finished fifth in the Region
III wrestling tournament a few weeks ago.
“I really enjoyed wrestling with her. It was great. We had to develop
new sign language, jus the two of us,” said Patti. “Hopefully we’ll
have to do the same for softball.”
“Individual sports are harder for me,” said Gwen. “I can’t hear what
coach says. During wrestling, I close my eyes a lot of times and
couldn’t see interpreter said.”
Like baseball, softball has a language of its own. A lot of it,
though, is signs. Gwen is a catcher so working with the pitchers is
no problem.
“Sometimes it’s easy , but sometimes it’s hard,” said Gwen. “I need
to make sure move to right position and tell them what kind of pitch
to throw.”
“It’s the same because we use signs, so you don’t have to talk too
much,” said Cy Ridge pitcher Taylor Munguia. “But when you do, it’s
OK.”
Gwen is already being recruited by Gallaudet University, a deaf
university. But she gave us a sign of where she really wants to go —
the unmistakable ‘Hook ’em Horns’ of the University of Texas.
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