Holly Hunter's Dual Development in the DA and Deaf National Team

“You're in the middle of a soccer game with the ball at your feet, approaching the final third of the field.

The crowd boisterously urges you forward, the wind whistles across the grass, a teammate bellows at you about an opponent coming up on your right shoulder, the left winger screams for the ball to be sent to the far post and your coach barks instructions from the bench.

Can you picture it?

Now imagine you're in the same position, but you can't hear a single thing. Dead silence.

There's no crowd noise from which to garner energy. It's up to you to sense the pressure, find the runners and figure out what your coach and teammates are looking for in the run of play without any sort of verbal communication.

Imagine that you're 13-years-old experiencing that for the first time. On the same field as players triple your age, and they're not only veterans of playing this way, but they've won a number of world championships.

That's where Legends FC's Holly Hunter found herself two summers ago when she stepped into her first-ever training camp with the United States Deaf Women's National Team.”

View the original article by The US Soccer Development Academy here