{"id":14762,"date":"2011-06-21T04:20:18","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T09:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=14762"},"modified":"2011-06-21T04:44:36","modified_gmt":"2011-06-21T09:44:36","slug":"love-of-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/06\/21\/love-of-the-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Love of the game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love of the game<\/strong><\/p>\n

Broussard, LAAD to play in SW Deaf tournament<\/p>\n

June 18, 2011.<\/p>\n

BY CHRIS LANDRY
\nThe Daily Iberian<\/p>\n

Chantel Broussard has loved softball and baseball since she was a little
\ngirl playing T-ball at the Air Base in New Iberia.<\/p>\n

The game is really no different for Broussard and her Lafayette Athletic
\nAssociation of the Deaf softball teammates than it is for teams whose
\nplayers can hear \u2014 except, of course, most of the players on the LAAD co-ed
\nteam can\u2019t hear the cheers of the fans, Broussard said through interpreter
\nKatie Romero Botts on Friday.<\/p>\n

Broussard and her team are preparing for the South West Softball Association
\nof the Deaf Tournament scheduled for July 7-9 in El Paso, Texas, and for the
\nsubsequent National Softball Association of the Deaf tournament in Dallas
\nfrom Aug. 1-13. After three years as a player on the LAAD women\u2019s team, she
\nbecame a player-coach this year for the co-ed team that was formed because
\nthere were not enough players to form individual men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams for
\nthe tournaments.<\/p>\n

Deaf players can see fans clapping, Broussard said through the interpreter,
\nbut can\u2019t hear them. So fans of deaf teams, often deaf themselves or
\nrelatives of deaf players, raise both hands above their heads and wave them
\nto cheer. Other than that, the game is basically the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe teams are all deaf and they sign,\u201d said Broussard. Umpires are usually
\ndeaf too, though there are some hearing umps for the games, who themselves
\nknow sign language.<\/p>\n

Broussard, 35, is able to read lips and had no communication problems when
\nplaying in Little League games at the Air Base as a child, she said. She
\ncouldn\u2019t play in high school because Louisiana School for the Deaf in Baton
\nRouge, her alma mater, didn\u2019t have a softball team.<\/p>\n

As an adult she\u2019s played in family tournaments alongside daughter Alicia,
\n14, in Coteau, where she lives with fiance Toby Landry and their kids. She
\nwas told about the LAAD women\u2019s team by friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone asked me if I wanted to play,\u201d said Broussard.<\/p>\n

The answer was a definite \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it,\u201d she said. \u201cI love softball.\u201d<\/p>\n

LAAD teams have fared well at the South West tournament in her four years
\nwith the squads, finishing fifth two years ago when the tournament was in
\nOklahoma, and winning the sportsmanship award the same year; then placing
\nfourth in the tournament in Mississippi the following year. Next year\u2019s
\nregional tournament will be in Bossier City, with nationals in Las Vegas,
\nsomething Broussard eagerly looks forward to.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also looking forward to playing softball with her daughter in a couple
\nof years when Alicia becomes eligible to play for the LAAD team at age 16.
\nAlicia, like her mother, was born deaf, and will enroll at the Louisiana
\nSchool for the Deaf in the fall. She attended Iberia Middle School this
\nyear.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe also loves baseball,\u201d said Broussard, adding that she wants her
\ndaughter to follow in her footsteps. \u201cShe\u2019s been playing for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broussard said that next year, LAAD will again split its teams up into
\nmen\u2019s and women\u2019s groups, and also will field a co-ed team. This year, a lot
\nof the players had new jobs and couldn\u2019t play, so the teams were combined.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said I wanted to be the coach because everyone else works, and they do
\nfundraising and so on, so I wanted to help out,\u201d said Broussard.<\/p>\n

The team must pay a $125 team fee, plus each player pays a $20 fee, for the
\nSouth West tourney. The team fee for nationals is $200, said Broussard, so
\nthe team is looking for funds to help pay for the cost of both the fees and
\nfor hotels, food and other expenses. Checks can be made out to LAAD, with
\ndeadline for donations on July 1.<\/p>\n

LAAD is a non-profit organization. Broussard can be reached by phone,
\nthrough a relay service, at 337-376-0227.<\/p>\n

Because players are from a wide area \u2014 Lafayette, Abbeville, Lake Charles,
\nMonroe \u2014 the team practices only every two weeks. There are 20 members,
\nincluding 17 players and three who serve as water girls, scorebook keepers,
\nbase coaches, and whatever else is needed.<\/p>\n

Broussard said she\u2019s enjoyed past tournaments, especially getting to meet
\nother players. Each trip is like a mini-vacation lasting three to four days,
\nthough softball is the main focus.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also done some bowling with the LAAD, but that\u2019s not her first love as
\nfar as sports goes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done some bowling,\u201d said Broussard. \u201cI\u2019ve played basketball but not
\nfor a few years. I just like softball better than bowling,\u201d adding with a
\nsmile, \u201cWhen I get older maybe I\u2019ll bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.iberianet.com\/sports\/love-of-the-game\/article_c965f4e2-9a2c-11e0-9150-001cc4c002e0.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Love of the game Broussard, LAAD to play in SW Deaf tournament June 18, 2011. BY CHRIS LANDRY The Daily Iberian Chantel Broussard has loved softball and baseball since she was a little girl playing T-ball at the Air Base…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[9769,4621,9773,9768,9766,768,19,1912,9765,9338,9770,84,17,9772,438,9767,9771,45],"class_list":["post-14762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-air-base","tag-article","tag-bossier-city","tag-broussard","tag-co-ed","tag-communication","tag-dallas-dfw","tag-el-paso","tag-laad","tag-national-softball-association-of-the-deaf","tag-new-iberia","tag-softball","tag-texas","tag-toby-landry","tag-tournament","tag-tournment","tag-umpires","tag-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-3Q6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33130,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2016\/03\/11\/swsad-softball-tournament-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":14762,"position":0},"title":"SWSAD Softball Tournament 2016","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Southwest Softball Association of the Deaf 49th Men's, 42nd Women's and COED's Annual Regional Slo-Pitch Softball Tournament June 23, 24, and 25, 2016 Host by Lafayette Athletic Association of the Deaf (LAAD) http:\/\/www.laad.net Youngsville Sports Complex (Softball Complex) 801 Savoy Road Youngsville, LA 70592 http:\/\/www.youngsvillesportscomplex.com If anyone who want to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"swsad 2016 flyer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/swsad-2016-flyer.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33377,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2016\/04\/21\/updated-swsad-softball-tournament-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":14762,"position":1},"title":"UPDATED: SWSAD Softball Tournament 2016","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"UPDATED: SWSAD Softball Tournament 2016 Southwest Softball Association of the Deaf 49th Men\u2019s, 42nd Women\u2019s and COED\u2019s Annual Regional Slo-Pitch Softball Tournament June 23, 24, and 25, 2016 Host by Lafayette Athletic Association of the Deaf (LAAD) http:\/\/www.laad.net Youngsville Sports Complex (Softball Complex) 801 Savoy Road Youngsville, LA 70592 http:\/\/www.youngsvillesportscomplex.com\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"swsad 2016 flyer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/swsad-2016-flyer.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":29435,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2014\/12\/06\/normans-peter-j-broussard-jr-honored-with-oklahoma-governors-disability-employment-awards-of-excellence\/","url_meta":{"origin":14762,"position":2},"title":"Norman’s Peter J. 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