Deaf School
 

First experience with a deaf school tonight. Does anything happen differently, how do they stop play, ect. Any insight would help.

Thanks

I have no experience but I would think good mechanics would be essential - especially ensuring that the hand gets raised high on OOB, fouls, etc. The reason I say this is I see so many officials that fail to get that hand up high when they stop the clock.

Agree. Find it hard though to see how they could hear the whistle.

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.

Deaf School
 

I have enjoyed the experience several times. I blow the whistle hard and everything stops as usual. I make sure at least one of the players can read my lips when making the call before reporting to the table. They communicate very well and remind us that sharp crisp signals and communication is the key to a great game. The coach is always a great help. You will have no problems.

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

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

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?

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.

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.

I've officiated deaf players, but never a deaf school. :D

Had a team twice this season that had one deaf player. The only noticeable difference is the ASL interpreter on the bench.

What if they curse you in sign language? :D

How loud?