Fermin Courts Newfound Confidence

The local TV camera crew was searching for a sound bite after a Fullerton Troy girls’ tennis match three years ago. They wanted to hear about the pressures of playing for a top-notch high school tennis program.

Coach Donna Judd suggested they interview a freshman player, rather than her, and pointed to Clare Fermin.

By the time Judd remembered Fermin had a stuttering problem, which becomes more pronounced when she becomes excited or nervous, it was too late. The microphone had already been planted in her face.

She navigated her way through the interview better than Judd could have expected, and, three years later, her coach and teammates continue to downplay her speech disorder.

“It kind of held me back a little bit,” Fermin said, “but I’ve pretty much learned how to deal with it, I guess. It doesn’t really bother me that much anymore.”

There was a time when Fermin tried to conceal her stuttering behind closed doors or within the comfortable walls of a tennis court. However, she has since learned to tackle it head-on while continuing to sting the ball from the baseline.

She’s one of the top players for Troy, seeded No. 2 in the Southern Section Division II playoffs and playing a semifinal match today at Palm Desert, where a victory would give the Warriors six consecutive finals appearances.

This month, Fermin won the Freeway League’s singles title, and earlier this season, she committed to UC Irvine, where she hopes to team with her oldest sister, Veronica.

Fermin is also team captain, providing her an opportunity to overcome her inhibitions while boosting her teammates’ morale.

“She’s a special one,” said Alison Ramos, a highly regarded freshman who lives in Carson but makes the commute primarily because of her relationship with Fermin. “She makes everybody more relaxed and helps them express themselves easier.”

That’s something Fermin has struggled with most of her life.

Her parents, Alvin and Del, first noticed she had difficulty speaking when she was a toddler.

“She would stomp her feet just trying to get the words out,” Del said.

Fermin began speech therapy in third grade, but it was in middle school that her discomfort with the disorder became especially acute. She avoided conversations, particularly with boys, by staying home as much as possible.

When she did venture out, it was often to the tennis courts at nearby Yorba Regional Park in Anaheim with Veronica and her other sister, Serena, who plays for Loyola Marymount.

“She was in her own little world,” Del said.

Spending time playing tennis not only helped Fermin avoid uncomfortable conversations, it also gave her an advantage on the competition.

“It helped me concentrate on my game,” Fermin said.

She has been ranked as high as 19th in the 16-under age group by the Southern California Tennis Assn., and two years ago paired with Serena to advance to the Southern Section individual finals in doubles.

Last season, she lost to teammate Cosmina Ciobanu in the league’s singles finals but won the rematch when Ciobanu could not finish because of a knee injury.

During the regular season, Fermin did not lose a game in victories over Newport Harbor and Los Angeles Brentwood, seeded No. 2 in the Division III playoffs.

Along the way, Fermin and her family have come to terms with her stuttering, a problem that affects an estimated 3 million people in the United States.

Treatment for stuttering is very different than it was a generation ago, when the disorder was often treated with psychotherapy, including hypnosis, rather than physiological therapy.

Mark Power, head of the Power Stuttering Center in Irvine, said that although advances in treatment have been made in recent years, the disorder can appear at any time, especially in public situations.

Power, now 58 and a stutterer until he was in his mid-30s, said the key to controlling a speech disorder is beginning therapy at an early age. Many parents are told to wait until a child is 7 to begin therapy, because 75% of children 5 and under recover on their own.

“That’s too old,” Power said. “They can be helped very easily if they are 2 or 3 years old.”

Fermin’s therapy included family workshops, during which her parents and sisters learned how best to interact with her -- “We learned not to help her along,” Veronica said.

Fermin speaks easily about tennis, her family and school, but struggles when asked to describe her verbal challenges.

“We were hoping it would go away in her teenage years, but unfortunately it didn’t,” Del said. “But she’s learned to accept who she is and take what’s given.”

Fermin has learned she cannot cure or control her speech but is gaining power over her self-consciousness in social situations. The stigma’s sting seems to lessen with growth and maturity.

“In high school,” Fermin said, “kids don’t act like they care anymore. They have other stuff to worry about.”

Ciobanu, who has played tennis with and against Fermin for nearly 10 years, agreed.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal at all,” she said of her friend’s stuttering. “I think it makes her unique.”