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?

At our local deaf school they have a huge drum that they bang for every point....EVERY POINT!

The first time is a shocker but after that you expect it.

Overall, it's always a good experience.

Learn how to say the jersey colors in sign language, they will tell you if you ask. You only need 2 colors white and the visitors.

Don't we already do that? It is called "pointing in direction of play" ;)

It's more needed for reporting fouls.

OK, I could see that. As I said, never called a game with deaf players so have no idea what to expect

Use your best Ed Hightower theatrical moves. Oh boy are you in for a treat. Did a tourney years ago with some very good players, in their twenties and the game was above the rim. It was chaos!!!

I Look forward To My Deaf Games (At Least The Boys Games)
 

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.

Bang The Drum Slowly ...
 

Same here.

The Bird Is The Word ...
 

I already know a few of these, in fact, we all know them.

I mentioned a team with a deaf girl earlier this thread. I've had this team twice, a few weeks apart.

In the first game, I was the more experienced of the two officials. The coach informed us of the ASL interpreter on the bench. We informed the coach that the interpreter had to remain seated, as per rule.

In the second game, I worked with a more experienced official, who preferred to "let it go" if the interpreter wanted to stand. I sometimes defer to experience (unless it's blatantly wrong), so I chose not to battle about this one.

Thoughts?

I would enforce the bench rule. There is no need for the interpreter to stand except during a TO anyway IMHO.

I created a thread for this same thing back in November for my first game of the year. The deaf team was the visiting team in my game and other than a few minor adjustments it was typical "not so good" girls basketball for me.

Someone from the deaf team did give us the signs for white and blue. It helps with coming out of timeouts and a couple of other things. A few times they played a little after the whistle but you just have to have a little patience.

I was kind of worried about doing this game leading up to it but it turned out to be no big deal. As I said, my game was typical, not so good girls basketball. Nothing more, nothing less.

The western states have a Deaf School Tournament that rotates around between the State schools in CA, OR, WA ID, NV, and MT (I think). Several years ago, the school here hosted and we had a bunch of games. I worked the game between the school from Oregon and the school from Nevada. At one point one of the players from Nevada turned to me and let fly with a series of signs - I had no clue, but his own coach jumped off the bench and called me over and said "You need to call a Technical on him, right now"...I asked the Coach "Why?" and his response was "What he just said about your mother deserves a T."

So I reported the T, Coach took the kid out, and away we went!