TEAM LEARN SIGN LANGUAGE FORMATE
Junior Hawks learn sign language to support mate
FOOTBALL: At first glance Crispine Wilondja is a typical young boy.
The 13-year-old is full of energy, loves his friends and football.
There’s lot more to Wilondja than meets the eye though.
Wilondja was born in a Kenyan refugee camp and he is deaf.
His Harristown Hawks U14/ 15B Terriers teammates are proving football truly is “the beautiful game” though.
Team manager Rodney Byrne said it is heart-warming to see how quickly the team has accepted and befriended Wilondja.
“The kids have been fantastic,” Byrne said.
“He’s just another player to them. They’ve learned some basic sign language for things like shoot, pass, defend, stop and whenever he does something good they know the applause sign.
“When we want to tell him something important we write a note and one of the players will run it over to him and wait to make sure he understands.”
Byrne said he speaks to referees prior to the team’s games to inform them about Wilondja’s circumstance and how best to communicate with the young striker.
Post-game their focus is less on his deafness and more on his skills.
“Early this season the referees in our game couldn’t believe he had never played in an official competition,” Byrne said.
“Aside from kicking the ball about on his own he’s never played a game before.
“It was only his third game and they couldn’t believe how good he was.
“It’s wonderful to watch, you can tell he loves the game – he’s a natural.
“He’s our leading goal scorer with 16 goals in about seven games.”
Now that Wilondja has found his place in the team and built friendships Byrne said Hawks would love to help him more.
“If there is any out there that could volunteer some to help us learn a little more sign language we’d love it,” he said.
“We really want to do as much as we can to make him part of the time.”
CAN YOU HELP? If you can volunteer time to teach sign language the Hawks would love to hear from you. Call Rodney Byrne on 0402 405 017.