Deaf Leopards feel they have advantage on football field
September 13, 2013
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) – Like all sports, football requires intense concentration and reliance on a combination of sensory cues, but try playing football without being able to hear anything.
This football season, the Leopards at the Arkansas School for the Deaf will feel the crunch of the contact and see the excitement of the crowd, but the one thing the team won't be able to do, unlike most high school football teams, is hear the crowd's roar.
"For a lot of our students, sports are a way for them to stay engaged with school, with life in general," said football coach Jon Parker. He believes coaching a deaf team comes with its advantages. "I can communicate with my kids right in front of these other teams, and they have no idea what I'm talking about, so I can tell them specifically 'You go block this guy or you look for this person, whatever,' and they know exactly what I'm talking about, and the other team has no idea."
On a hot September day, the team took the field against another Little Rock school–one that could hear. Leopard football player Martin Thurlkill said being deaf, they do have a leg up on hearing players.
"Most of the deaf have pretty good eyes that can really read things that help them around them. I think that's an advantage," he said.
The school is too small to field the 11 players that usually compose a football team, so they play eight-man football. Players said that's the only real difference
Parker said the Leopards won both games they played earlier this week. The team will travel to several other states this season to play other deaf high schools.
SOURCE:
http://www.thv11.com/news/article/279615/2/Deaf-Leopards-feel-they-have-advantage-on-football-field