B-P girls JV soccer's Deaf trio enjoying learning, teaching and playing in first season

TAUNTON— Abigail Nascimento, Deborah Nascimento and Naylah Vicente have quite a few things in common.

The trio are all students at Bristol-Plymouth. They're all playing their first season of high school soccer for the Craftsmen junior varsity squad.

They also all happen to be Deaf.

Vicente and the Nascimento sisters all first took up the sport this past August, with the team adding an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter to help better facilitate communication between the three and their hearing teammates and coach, Brianna Guaraldi.

"So far it's been really good," Deborah Nascimento, a sophomore, said. "We've been good with communicating. We've had an interpreter and the coaches are really nice. It's really a visual sport so I've really been enjoying it."

"I've had a great experience so far, especially with my peers," Abigail Nascimento, a sophomore, said. "It's been a learning curve for them and the coach to have three Deaf teammates. We're all learning basic signs like offense, defense and forward and I've been enjoying it."

Their prior sporting experiences all differ. For Vicente, a freshman, she initially participated in gymnastics but decided it wasn't for her, instead switching to volleyball. While she still considers it her favorite sport, she opted rather to take on soccer, establishing herself as a mainly defensive player.

As for Deborah Nascimento, who primarily plays midfield but has also been called on to defend and play forward, her sports journey has helped open her up more.

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"I didn't play any competitive sports when I was young, mostly because I'm Deaf and being nervous," Deborah Nascimento said.

Eventually, she began to participate in track and basketball outside of school, finding she enjoyed the games and being part of a team. After not participating in high school sports as a freshman, Deborah Nascimento decided to give soccer a shot this fall.

"I should try something out here at B-P, so I decided to do soccer and I love it," Deborah Nascimento said. "I do have a goal for myself to be a soccer player so I've satisfied that goal now and I get to play with them."

As for Guaraldi, herself a 2017 B-P graduate and former goalkeeper for the Craftsmen, the trio have had a huge impact on the team, both on and off the pitch.

"The girls have brought such a spirit to the team, they are true examples of nothing can get in their way between them and their love of soccer," Guaraldi said. "Their personalities truly shine while they are on the field and they are with their teammates."

Before this fall, Guaraldi said she didn't know any ASL, but has been able to pick up some basic signs through the interpreters and the girls, something she feels is crucial for both herself and her hearing players.

"Growing up being a soccer player I knew how much a soccer team can truly become like a little family and I wanted to make sure that they always felt included so that's why it was so important to me that the other girls and I were able to communicate with them," Guaraldi said.

That support was evident to her when Vicente netted her first career goal in a 4-3 win over Blue Hills on Sept. 28.

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"Right after all of the girls were going around her and giving her thumbs up until they figured out the sign for applause and our entire team started to do it," Guaraldi said. "It was such a moving moment to see everyone come together as a team united in their similarities and their differences. I truly think that it is a moment I will remember and carry with me during my entire coaching career."

As for the Nascimentos and Vicente, their biggest goals for the season are to improve as players, win games and further improve communication among the squad.

"My goal is to have effective communication, to learn and for everyone to learn some basic signs just to be able to communicate with us," Deborah Nascimento said. "If they didn't have the basic signs and signals, they wouldn't be able to communicate with us."

It's still a work in progress, but Guaraldi said the effort put in so far by herself and the hearing players to learn from their Deaf teammates has also made for a strong bonding experience.

In a sport commonly referred to as "the world's game" for its ability to connect people across cultural and language divides, it is all the more fitting.

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"As the season progresses their teammates and myself have been learning different signs in order to effectively communicate with the girls better," Guaraldi said. "It has been a true bonding experience with us all and it makes us feel proud of our diverse team when we are able to correctly sign to them. They have really shown us that no obstacle is too big that we can not handle together as a united team."

Taunton Daily Gazette sports reporter Cameron Merritt can be reached at cmerritt@tauntongazette.com. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @CamMerritt_News. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to the Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Naylah Vicente, Nascimento sisters enjoying their first soccer season