Football is a lovely game that most people love to play and watch. Over the years, normal football games have graced the scene. However, the concept is slowly changing as people with disabilities are also getting the chance to play and enjoy football. It has become extremely important that society has accepted the fact that disability is not inability, and therefore, disabled men and women can also get the chance to entertain fans through football.
It is amazing to watch people who are hard of hearing engage in football. A section of the society might think that it would be impossible because deaf players would not get the play calls. However, this has been proven wrong as many deaf football teams are coming up — Florida school for the deaf and blind vs. Alabama school for the deaf game is a perfect example that illustrates how well deaf players can engage in the game. The match was played on 10/26/2019 Saturday at 2:00 pm at the Florida school for the deaf and blind, and the Florida School for the Blind and Deaf emerged the winners with a margin score of 44-18. The match attracted huge support from the community, an indicator that people are slowly enjoying watching disabled men play.
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The rules of the game are different from the normal football game. For example, in a normal football game, there is a referee who whistles to start the play, end the play, or indicate a foul. However, in football for the deaf, the referee gives signals to the player to get the play call. It was easy to interact with the players. To get the attention of some of a deaf person, it is essential to move close to the person and gently tap on their shoulder. Most of them would read the lips, and thus, it was easy to communicate without using the signs. However, maintaining personal distance during the talk was essential to ensure that they have enough space to see the lips movement. I interacted with one of the players (John Howe), where he expressed how happy he was that they won the game. He was also grateful for the support they got from the fans.
ASL has a significant influence on the game. For instance, signal calling from the coach to a player in the field is greatly influenced by ASL. Without the signal calling, coaches would sub a player in every play to give the unit in the field a call. However, ASL believes that deaf players tend to read the tendency of opposing players since they are more observant as they cannot hear. The temple of the play is high, just like it is in the normal games, players maintain their positioning in the field, and this makes it look easy. Were it not for the consistent use of sign language from the referee; it would be impossible to define that the players were deaf.
Some of the new signs from the interaction include; go- which is expressed by pointing with both hands on the direction a person wants to go. I also learn how to sign a happy anniversary, which is expressed by using leveled hands and underside of the hand pointing back, then circumnavigate the hand prior, down, back, up, and again. In this case, the hands should move in the same direction at the same time. However, while swinging the hands upwards, the hands should touch the chest.
