Anna Smither, left, evades an opponent during a Saint Mary's School game against Ravenscroft in Raleigh, N.C., on March 10. Smither, a high school junior at Saint Mary's, uses cued speech to communicate with her family and friends and in school. (Photo by M.V. Swain )
A new playing fieldWomen's soccer newcomer transitions from hearing to to all-deaf squadby Sarah Segal on June 9, 2009 On the road, soccer players occasionally have more to acclimate to than a strange field. For Anna Smither, a newcomer to the U.S. National Deaf Women’s Soccer Team, the deaf world is as new a backdrop as Taipei, Taiwan. Smither, a high school junior at Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh, N.C., and a cued speech user, will compete alongside deaf teammates for the first time at the Deaflympics in Taiwan this September. She faces a daunting challenge in transitioning from a leading role on a hearing team to playing with 14 talented, older deaf players. “It’s a big difference,” Smither said. “It is a lot more challenging to play with deaf teammates than hearing teammates, but I am willing to beat that challenge and get used to it.” Smither is one of two high school players offered a spot on the women’s soccer team to compete in Taipei this September, where the team will defend its 2005 gold medal. She is profoundly deaf, has a cochlear implant and has played soccer alongside hearing athletes since she was a toddler, using cued speech, a phonemic-based system, to communicate with her hearing coach and teammates. “Cued speech [gives] me the ability to talk and communicate without having to have someone speak for me,” Smither said. However, she added, although cued speech enables her to speak and understand speech, she does not use it to communicate with deaf teammates. “I try to use American Sign Language with the U.S. team, but for everything else, I just talk.” Saint Mary’s School varsity women’s soccer coach Jim Lavery, who has known Smither for nearly 10 years, said communicating with her has been relatively problem-free. The combination of her cochlear implant, lip-reading skills and knowledge of the game all contribute to her success on the field, he said. “With any player, there are always challenges in communicating on and off the field,” Lavery said. “If I am having trouble getting to her during matches, I will ask one of her teammates to let her know what we need her to do or where to move. She understands the game very well, so she instinctively knows what to do.” Lavery said Smither also communicates easily with her teammates, and acts as a natural leader for the rest of the team on and off the field. With the use of constant “eye contact, hand signals and chatter during the match, she is very intense,” he said. “As a captain [of] the team, [they are] always watching her actions and following her natural leadership.” Smither also pushes her teammates to play better, Lavery said. “Her drive, passion for the game and love of life makes her a magnet for attention from her teammates. They all support her hard work and they do their best to play at her level.” Fellow Saint Mary’s women’s soccer co-captain Ashley Keen characterized Smither as a teammate with a great sense of humor who is easy to communicate with. “Sometimes I have to yell a little louder to get her attention on the field, but she is like any other player on the field. Anna always has something funny to say, and we work very well together as co-captains,” Keen said. “She is an exceptional player herself, but she also has the ability to combine with the rest of the players on the field to make the team great. She genuinely cares about her teammates, and that shows on the field.” Smither, who currently is learning ASL from other players on the Deaflympics soccer squad, admits that the transition from speaking and cueing on the field to using sign language is daunting. However, like Lavery, U.S. National Deaf Women’s Soccer head coach Ken McDonald also has faith in Smither’s abilities. Although Smither only recently began to learn sign language and will be one of the team’s youngest players, McDonald thinks Smither has the potential to lead the U.S. team to victory. “I’m expecting Anna to become one of the new leaders of this team,” McDonald said. “I only met Anna for the first time at my first camp with the girls in Pensacola in February, [and] she made a big impression on me with her soccer skills. But just as important, a professional attitude to everything.” Deaflympics teammate Allison Galoob said she has had no problems communicating with Anna so far. “She is very easy to talk to,” said Galoob, a sophomore at Saint Louis University who speaks and uses mostly pidgin sign language. “I talk with her. However, since she is currently picking up some sign language, I try to incorporate some signs to help her out a little bit.” Galoob said her first impression of Smither at tryouts a year ago was someone passionate and driven: “She definitely has something that is exactly what the team needs, [which is] someone fierce and determined. She works very well with other teammates, and she controls the tempo of the game as a center midfielder quite well.” Smither currently practices with her high school varsity soccer team two hours a day in preparation for Saint Mary’s games that take place during the week. She also has met with the U.S. team once for the first of two training camps since tryouts. The next training camp will be in July. Smither said that the best thing about training with athletes for the Deaflympics is the opportunity to immerse herself in deaf culture. “I basically live in the hearing world, so I really don’t know much about the deaf world,” she said. “Yes, I take off my implant [and] I’m already in the deaf world, but having to talk to other deaf kids and playing soccer with them is a total new experience for me.” |
 Anna Smither, right, goes up for a header during a Saint Mary's School game against North Raleigh Christian Academy in Raleigh, N.C., in February. Smither, a junior at Saint Mary's, is one of two high school players offered a spot on the U.S. National Deaf Women’s soccer team for the 2009 Taipei Deaflympics. (Photo by M.V. Swain )
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