Team USA’s Sophie Post works with Kylee during a soccer clinic after USA Deaf Soccer competed in a scrimmage at the Great Park in Irvine, CA, on Friday, March 25, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
MURRAY, Utah – A deaf soccer player from Murray is in Brazil representing the United States. Sophie Post is playing with the U.S. Deaf Women’s National Soccer Team in the 2021 Deaflympics in Brazil.
In the first game against Brazil, the United States won 4-0. Post scored one of the 4 goals.
Her mother, Caprice, said her daughter wasn’t a starter during the game. She says Sophie only went in for the last 6-7 minutes, and scored a goal within two minutes of checking in.
Post played for Murray high school and has since received an athletic scholarship at Shoreline Community College in Seattle. The team in Seattle isn’t deaf or hard of hearing. As a Freshman, she’s already team captain.
Caprice Post said that communication during the game is important, but different than how Sophie grew up playing soccer. During the Deaflympics, players aren’t allowed use hearing aids. She also said Sophie has severe hearing loss, but many people don’t know because she’s gone through speech therapy for years. Before playing in the Deaflympics, Sophie didn’t know American Sign Language, but she learned so she could communicate with the other players.
Caprice Post said there are interpreters on the field so coaches and players can communicate.
“[The] really cool thing about playing in a deaf centric sport – the referees don’t use their whistles they have flags that they wave,” Caprice Post said. “There’s a lot more understanding – games don’t stop instantly because everyone has to see the flag being raised.”
Caprice said Sophie has found support from other deaf and hard of hearing players because they have similar experiences on the field and in life.
Sophie isn’t the only Utah player on the team. The team’s keeper is Taegan Frandsen, who’s currently playing soccer for Salt Lake Community College. Sophie’s mom said the two girls know each other from club soccer.
There are 78 countries, 2,000 athletes competing in 209 events at the 2021 Deaflympics. The event was put on hold last year and pushed to 2022 due to pandemic restrictions.
The U.S. women’s soccer team is undefeated at the Deaflympics. They will play Japan’s team on Saturday. Some of the games are available to broadcast on X-Play TV.
Chandler Holt contributed to this report