Hearing-Impaired Students at Saddleback Get Assist From Women Interpreters to Participate in Football

With the exception of cheerleaders, statisticians, or an occasional trainer, high school football programs tend to be exclusively a male province.

At Saddleback, however, a group of women play an integral part in the scheme of things. Without them, in fact, several players might not otherwise be able to participate.

The women are interpreters for the deaf and their status is virtually equal to that of the team’s regular coaching staff. These interpreters are at every varsity practice, meeting and game, serving to translate the coaches verbal commands into sign language for Saddleback’s deaf players.

Saddleback has been the host to the Orange County Department of Health and Education’s Hearing Impairment Program (HIP) since 1977, with many of those students participating in extracurricular activities such as drill teams or athletics, requiring interpreters both in the classroom and on the field.

Though the program has been a success in helping hearing-impaired students function in mainstream school activities, Saddleback’s enrollment (2,800) has grown to the point that the school needs the space that HIP presently occupies. The program will have to find new quarters next fall.

HIP officials are negotiating with other school districts and expect to find a new home--which would include a high school and a junior high.

But for now Saddleback is home where the interpreters support the Roadrunners as much as the players and coaches.

The program’s greatest accomplishment, aside from tending the day-to-day needs of the hearing-impaired, has been to meld them into mainstream school life without drawing an inordinate amount of attention.

Their function is important, of course, but apparently everybody involved in the program has long since been accepted as part of the fabric of the school community.

On the Saddleback practice field recently, Glenna Bolton, one of the interpreters, talked about her experiences in signing for Rodney Recio and Jason Maurer, two hearing-impaired varsity players who were preparing for tonight’s Sea View League showdown against Newport Harbor.

“Football’s starting to make sense to me now,” Bolton said. “I didn’t know it was that complicated--it sure looked easier watching it on TV. Occasionally we have to invent our own signs, but the kids seem to follow us fairly well.”

Coach Jerry Witte said a big hurdle was teaching the interpreters the sport’s jargon.

Said Witte: “Football uses terminology that interpreters aren’t used to. We can’t afford to have a communications problem whether it’s in a game or at practice.”

When Witte was working with his offensive line at practice, describing complicated blocking schemes, Bolton was by his side, interpreting his lecture for Recio and Maurer, both of whom were working with the defense.

“Whatever Jerry says is what I tell them,” Bolton said.

Another interpreter, Dottie Large, said that it’s not enough for them to just interpret the coach literally--they also have to convey the emotion that goes with it.

After all, there is a world of difference between a coach saying “you missed the block” and “you missed the block!”

Said Large, “If he is angry or upset, you have to be able to convey exactly what the coach is feeling. I had deaf parents, so my first language was learning to sign. That’s where I learned to sign with inflection.”

For the most part, being hearing-impaired hasn’t hampered the players who’ve gone through the football program. On defense, those players react to the movement of the ball (instead of the quarterback’s signal count) and stop when everybody else stops.

On offense, it can get a little more complicated. Large recalled the time that Saddleback had Blake Smith, an all-league tight end who was hearing-impaired.

Smith got his assignments by watching Large on the sidelines, who listened to Witte sending in a play to the huddle and she would then signal Smith. This year, Large interprets in one of Witte’s history classes, so she is used to following and interpreting his speech patterns.

By now, most of the interpreters are fairly well versed in a variety of subjects. Bolton, for example, interprets in three English classes, a geometry class, and an athletic class before working with either the football, water polo, or cross-country teams after school.

Football tends to be the most time-consuming, with interpreters even signing during halftime speeches at games or going to the team’s film sessions to work there.

“We just use a small flashlight so the players can see our hands,” Bolton said.

Because of the time and effort involved, the interpreters have gotten quite attached to the various teams that they help. Large even confessed that when she’s on the sideline and a Saddleback player is making a long run, she’s running alongside cheering him on.

And Bolton even wears a green and gold coach’s warmup that reads “Saddleback Staff.”

Virtually all of the interpreters have family or friends who are deaf, so they know firsthand the frustration of having difficulty communicating in a verbal world.

“You can see it (the understanding) in their faces,” Bolton said. “It helps keep you young.”

The Big Game

Saddleback vs. Newport Harbor

The records--Saddleback (4-0), Newport Harbor (3-1)

The site--Davidson Field

Key to the game--Newport Harbor’s offense. The Sailors must establish a running game against Saddleback if they hope to have control. Saddleback has shut out three of its first four opponents and has the ability to contain, if not completely stop, Newport Harbor quarterback Shane Foley. The Roadrunners’ favor a ball-control offense behind the running of tailback Glenn Campbell, but quarterback Myron Butler has been throwing the ball well. If the Roadrunners’ defense can keep Foley from setting up to pass, they might be able to throw the vaunted Newport passing game off stride.

Consensus--At this point in the season, Saddleback has done everything that its coaches have asked. The defense has allowed only one touchdown and the offense is showing a good balance of running and passing. Newport Harbor is big, but has problems with quicker teams, as evidenced in its 36-26 loss to Irvine earlier this season. Last season’s game ended in a 26-26 tie on a last-second field goal by Newport. This game might also be decided by a field goal. Saddleback by three points.