The girls on Bella's basketball team, the Blackjacks, played Tuesday night against the girls at the Washington School for the Deaf.
We had a great time sitting by our friends, Dawn & Greg, and their 4-year-old son Nathan. Their daughter Samantha, Bella's good friend, is also on the team. We all spent the game trying to figure out who was hearing and who was deaf. At first we thought one of the refs might be, and then the WSD girls’ coach - but just the girls were deaf. I wondered how they knew to stop playing when the refs blew their whistles, and could never quite figure it out. It was fascinating!
It would be so odd playing basketball without the sense of sound… the coach signed at the girls in the same way other coaches yell at their players. One girl was hit on the head with a basketball by her teammate, missing an intended pass. But they were awesome players - the WSD girls skunked our team, 20-8. Bella is by far the youngest on her team at 9. The other girls are between 10-12 and the WSD team was all middle school age. Bella is doing remarkably well. She almost had a basket. She's an enthusiastic player and every game, gets a little braver and more aggressive. We're very proud of her progress.