Deaf School

[jdw3018]

I've officiated for a deaf school team once. What I found was that it wasn't much different than every other game, other than we had a few times play continued beyond the whistle.

There will very likely be some players on the court who are 100% deaf, but there will also be others who have slight hearing and the whistle will be enough to get them to stop. The team I officiated was also very good at reading the actions of their opponents - they could tell when they had stopped playing for some reason and reacted appropriately.

[bob jenkins]

several threads on this over the past couple of months. Search.

[RobbyinTN]

Another thought - maybe if your partner mirrors you hand signals so that players who have their back to you mgiht see your partner's hand signals and stop

[rockyroad]

We have the State Deaf School here in town. In fact, my son plays against them tonight. You will find that you might have to hit the whistle a second time every now and then, but for the most part the players know when to stop. The biggest problem is trying to communicate with their Coaches who are also deaf. But even that wasn't too hard.

Bottom line - it's a game. Just go ref it like you always do. Be prepared to have to hit a second whistle, but that's about it.

[CDurham]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

We have the State Deaf School here in town. In fact, my son plays against them tonight. You will find that you might have to hit the whistle a second time every now and then, but for the most part the players know when to stop. The biggest problem is trying to communicate with their Coaches who are also deaf. But even that wasn't too hard.

Bottom line - it's a game. Just go ref it like you always do. Be prepared to have to hit a second whistle, but that's about it.

Thanks. Are the pregame conferences the same for a game like this?

[REFANDUMP]

I have officiated deaf teams on many occasions. Another thing you may need to do is to occasionally step onto the floor where you can be seen when action doesn't stop immediately. This is particularly true if you are on the baseline. Good signals are a must when working with deaf teams or players, but I think that always applies.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by CDurham

Thanks. Are the pregame conferences the same for a game like this?

Of course. They can read lips or will have an interpreter.

About the only thing that's different for you is that if someone is walking away / continuing to play, it's far less likely to be unsporting.

[RobbyinTN]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

Of course. They can read lips or will have an interpreter.

About the only thing that's different for you is that if someone is walking away / continuing to play, it's far less likely to be unsporting.

What if they curse you in sign language?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

Bottom line, it's a game. Just go ref it like you always do. Be prepared to have to hit a second whistle, but that's about it.

And have fun. With both teams deaf, there will be a lot of second whistles. If one team is hearing, it will be almost like any other game that you do.