Quote:
Originally Posted by bkbjones
If you work a deaf tournament, do not be stupid. Many of these folks are excellent lip readers. (Not all...please no stereotyping.) One of my cousins in a place not within a thousand miles of Seattle was born deaf and plays in a coed league. Fortunately it is red shirt and not blue shirt, because recently, an umpire in that league made a comment under his breath about so and so coach being an ucking fignoramus. Coach and players were on him like stink on doo doo. Umpire is on suspension.
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Yup, you're very correct on this point. That's why I was very selective of the local umpires when I was designated the UIC for a regional tournament hosted in Omaha a few years ago. I already had three deaf umpires come in, in addition to myself, and had to hire about 8 local ones to work the tournament. The first one I hired was a teacher at a school for the deaf across the river, and her normal partner, because they work well with each other and have a high level of respect for deaf players. The others were umpires who had worked league play locally that had deaf teams showing the appropriate professionalism and ability to work with these players, and I had worked with personally, so they got their nods. The tournament director from the regional board was very impressed with my local selections.