The Team That Talked with Their Hands

When Hana joined the Riverside football team, the other players were not sure what to do. Hana was deaf, which meant she could not hear the coach’s whistle or her teammates shouting “Pass!” across the pitch. At the first training session, the ball flew past her twice because she did not know it was coming.

After training, Hana wrote in her notebook and showed it to the captain, Luis. “I can play well,” it said. “But I need to see what you want, not hear it.”

Luis thought about it all evening. The next day, he had an idea. “What if we all learn some signs?” he asked the team. Hana taught them a few hand signals: a flat hand pushed forward meant “pass”, a finger pointing up meant “shoot”, and two hands crossed meant “defend”. Coach Amina added a bright yellow flag to wave instead of blowing the whistle.

At first, the players felt clumsy. Ade mixed up “shoot” and “defend” and ran the wrong way, and everybody laughed, including Ade. But they practised every day, and soon the signals became as natural as talking.

Then something surprising happened. In their next match, the other team could hear every plan the Riverside players shouted, but they could not understand the silent signals. Riverside’s strategy was a secret right in front of everyone. Hana saw Luis raise a finger, and she sent the ball curling into the net.

After the match, a girl from the other team came over. “How do you do that?” she asked. Hana smiled and showed her the sign for “friend”.