Miss-Delectable
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http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_3124860
"The only thing that we can't do is hear," said 16-year-old Andrew Fernandez.
Fernandez has been deaf since birth - it's a condition that runs in his family. His older sister Laura, a sophomore at San Francisco State, is also deaf.
But it hasn't slowed him down, especially in athletics. Fernandez, a Vallejo native who's a junior at Fremont's California School for the Deaf, wrestles, plays football and runs track at CSD, while also finding time for snowboarding.
Fernandez does possess partial hearing; he just needs his hearing aids. Secured with aids, he can sign for his teammate on the football team, Dontae Ramirez, an American Canyon resident who plays football, basketball and baseball at CSD.
This fall the duo - Ramirez is a quarterback, running back and safety; Fernandez plays wingback and corner- have helped the Eagles double last year's win total. Despite Saturday's 42-0 blowout loss to perennial Bay Football League power Sacred Heart Prep, CSD is 2-4, with a shot at the playoffs after struggling through a 1-8-1 season in 2004.
"Good," says Fernandez, a junior, "we're doing really good."
CSD was the perfect choice for both Fernandez and Ramirez. A public institution free to all deaf students in California, the pair don't commute to Fremont, they stay during the weekdays in on-campus dorms. The choice to "mainstream" at public schools for the hearing is available, but Fernandez and Ramirez agreed that the education at CSD suits them better.
Fernandez's father, also Andrew Fernandez, compared it to a student with hearing attending CSD. "You'd feel left out, wouldn't you?"
"It's easier to communicate with kids," said Ramirez, signed through Fernandez, "because there's more deaf kids than there are in mainstream schools."
Beside, they're comfortable enough to join athletic teams. Asked what he does in his free time, Ramirez, a 17-year-old senior, signs, "play basketball." The older Fernandez said his son is either playing something, or, in typical teenaged fashion, lying around. Each picked up football during his freshman year at CSD.
"I wanted him to excel in sports. I knew team sports would help," said the elder Fernandez, who, along with his wife, Margarita, has learned to sign. "I love to watch him play. It's exciting."
This fall, the Eagles roared to a hot start, winning their first two games - a 20-12 win over Calistoga and a 34-0 romp over Merced's Stone Ridge Christian High. Then came CSD's Big Game: a Sept. 24 matchup against rival CSD-Riverside, California's only other school for the deaf.
Though the Eagles dropped that one 20-12, Fernandez was pleased with his team's play, an improvement from their 37-3 loss in 2004.
"We did pretty good," he said, "but they were stronger than all of us. We had more heart, though."
Of course, there are differences with CSD football.
Plays are signed in, and players communicate with each other just like they would at school - through American Sign Language. At the line of scrimmage, the Eagles don't have a "hut" signal, but simply get set and quickly snap the ball.
There are subtle advantages, too. In a scrimmage this year, Fernandez, lined up at receiver, decided to switch a route and signed to Ramirez what he would run. Ramirez hit him for a touchdown.
Mostly, though, the pair said there's nothing much unique about their team, or themselves. Still, Fernandez's father admitted that, with "a wink and smile," the Eagles enjoy beating hearing-able opponents.
"To me, it's the same. It's not really any different," said Fernandez. "I'm pretty sure that other people are amazed that we can do this."
They shouldn't.
Deaf players have impacted football for years, with the invention of the offensive huddle stemming from the Gallaudet University team. Also a school for the deaf, Gallaudet used the huddle so the opposition couldn't eavesdrop on the plays being signed.
Both Ramirez and Fernandez hope to continue playing in college, possibly at Gallaudet in Washington, D.C.
Like any athlete, they just want to play. They're not really that different.
"Growing up, I couldn't imagine being deaf at his age," said the elder Fernandez. "(The football team) gives hearing people a different perspective on deaf kids."
"The only thing that we can't do is hear," said 16-year-old Andrew Fernandez.
Fernandez has been deaf since birth - it's a condition that runs in his family. His older sister Laura, a sophomore at San Francisco State, is also deaf.
But it hasn't slowed him down, especially in athletics. Fernandez, a Vallejo native who's a junior at Fremont's California School for the Deaf, wrestles, plays football and runs track at CSD, while also finding time for snowboarding.
Fernandez does possess partial hearing; he just needs his hearing aids. Secured with aids, he can sign for his teammate on the football team, Dontae Ramirez, an American Canyon resident who plays football, basketball and baseball at CSD.
This fall the duo - Ramirez is a quarterback, running back and safety; Fernandez plays wingback and corner- have helped the Eagles double last year's win total. Despite Saturday's 42-0 blowout loss to perennial Bay Football League power Sacred Heart Prep, CSD is 2-4, with a shot at the playoffs after struggling through a 1-8-1 season in 2004.
"Good," says Fernandez, a junior, "we're doing really good."
CSD was the perfect choice for both Fernandez and Ramirez. A public institution free to all deaf students in California, the pair don't commute to Fremont, they stay during the weekdays in on-campus dorms. The choice to "mainstream" at public schools for the hearing is available, but Fernandez and Ramirez agreed that the education at CSD suits them better.
Fernandez's father, also Andrew Fernandez, compared it to a student with hearing attending CSD. "You'd feel left out, wouldn't you?"
"It's easier to communicate with kids," said Ramirez, signed through Fernandez, "because there's more deaf kids than there are in mainstream schools."
Beside, they're comfortable enough to join athletic teams. Asked what he does in his free time, Ramirez, a 17-year-old senior, signs, "play basketball." The older Fernandez said his son is either playing something, or, in typical teenaged fashion, lying around. Each picked up football during his freshman year at CSD.
"I wanted him to excel in sports. I knew team sports would help," said the elder Fernandez, who, along with his wife, Margarita, has learned to sign. "I love to watch him play. It's exciting."
This fall, the Eagles roared to a hot start, winning their first two games - a 20-12 win over Calistoga and a 34-0 romp over Merced's Stone Ridge Christian High. Then came CSD's Big Game: a Sept. 24 matchup against rival CSD-Riverside, California's only other school for the deaf.
Though the Eagles dropped that one 20-12, Fernandez was pleased with his team's play, an improvement from their 37-3 loss in 2004.
"We did pretty good," he said, "but they were stronger than all of us. We had more heart, though."
Of course, there are differences with CSD football.
Plays are signed in, and players communicate with each other just like they would at school - through American Sign Language. At the line of scrimmage, the Eagles don't have a "hut" signal, but simply get set and quickly snap the ball.
There are subtle advantages, too. In a scrimmage this year, Fernandez, lined up at receiver, decided to switch a route and signed to Ramirez what he would run. Ramirez hit him for a touchdown.
Mostly, though, the pair said there's nothing much unique about their team, or themselves. Still, Fernandez's father admitted that, with "a wink and smile," the Eagles enjoy beating hearing-able opponents.
"To me, it's the same. It's not really any different," said Fernandez. "I'm pretty sure that other people are amazed that we can do this."
They shouldn't.
Deaf players have impacted football for years, with the invention of the offensive huddle stemming from the Gallaudet University team. Also a school for the deaf, Gallaudet used the huddle so the opposition couldn't eavesdrop on the plays being signed.
Both Ramirez and Fernandez hope to continue playing in college, possibly at Gallaudet in Washington, D.C.
Like any athlete, they just want to play. They're not really that different.
"Growing up, I couldn't imagine being deaf at his age," said the elder Fernandez. "(The football team) gives hearing people a different perspective on deaf kids."
Another CSDF alumni here 