近距离内射合集

Coach of U.S. Women's Deaf National Team still growing sport 30 years after starting UNM soccer program

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Amy Griffin has been down this road before.

It鈥檚 not a smooth journey, by any means.

But, for some reason, she鈥檚 fond of it. And she鈥檚 proven to be darn good at navigating the bumps, potholes and detours this road presents.

As Griffin 鈥 the former goalkeeper of the 近距离内射合集 States Women鈥檚 National Team, including a starter on the 1991 World Cup winning team 鈥 stood on the sideline of the UNM Soccer Complex on a blustery Friday night coaching the U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National Team in an exhibition against the UNM Lobos, feelings of d茅j脿vu hit on multiple levels.

Griffin 鈥 n茅e Allmann 鈥 was 26 years old when UNM women鈥檚 athletics trailblazer Linda Estes hired her in 1992 to start the school鈥檚 first fully funded varsity women鈥檚 soccer program. For the coach, it was a passion project 鈥 trying to grow the sport while fighting for acceptance.

Since 2015, Griffin has been coaching the U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National Team 鈥 with assistant coach, fellow former National Team star and her close 鈥渂uddy,鈥 Joy Fawcett 鈥 spreading the word to young boys and girls who might be deaf or hard of hearing that there is a place for them in the sport.

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 why Joy and I love coaching this team,鈥 said Griffin, whose roster includes many players still in high school. 鈥淲e feel like it鈥檚 just like it was back in the 90s 鈥 kind of our comfort zone is growing the game and creating awareness, being used to not having everything handed to us.

鈥淭here鈥檚 value in that, right? When you get on the gold medal podium, you鈥檙e like, 鈥榃e worked hard for this. We worked hard to even get new players on our team, because nobody knows about the team.鈥 I think there鈥檚 fun in hard, for sure.鈥

The Deaf National Team has been on plenty of podiums. They are 37-0-1 in international play all-time and won the 2023 4th World Deaf Football Championship in Malaysia.

Griffin says she feels 鈥渂lessed鈥 to coach a squad that playfully refers to itself as 鈥淭he best team nobody has ever heard of.鈥

For the past week, some of the team has been in Albuquerque, including 15 players 鈥 eight of them first-timers while team veterans took time off. The Lobos beat them 7-0 on Friday. Griffin knew the match would be a tough, but jumped at the opportunity to house a camp at her old stomping grounds when it was suggested by UNM women鈥檚 soccer head coach Heather Dyche, another friend in the sport and a fellow US National Team coaching acquaintance.

鈥淪he and I just established a great kind of friendship over the years through teaching courses in US Soccer and kind of helping with these national teams,鈥 said Dyche, who is starting her 10th year coaching the Lobos. 鈥淚 told her she should come do (a camp here), and she was like, 鈥極h my god, you鈥檙e right. I forgot how nice these fields are and these facilities are great.鈥欌

The teams will put on a clinic from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning at UNM 鈥 open to all kids and registration is $25. The hope is there might be a few kids who are hard of hearing or deaf 鈥 both just to have fun and learn, but also because these clinics are essentially the only feeder system the Deaf National Team has to recruit players.

To qualify for the deaf team, a player must have 55 decibel hearing or worse in their 鈥渂etter鈥 ear.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the one thing they (her players) absolutely love to do because they were that deaf or hard of hearing kid once that didn鈥檛 have a camp,鈥 Griffin said.

UNM women鈥檚 soccer team took the field together for the first time this season on Friday. They played the match with plugs in their ear, trying to match in some way their Deaf National Team counterparts.

鈥淎my said, 鈥榊ou know, it鈥檇 be kind of cool if your players would be willing to wear ear plugs,鈥欌 Dyche said before the match.鈥滱nd of course, my girls thought that was really cool. So we will be wearing earplugs, which I don鈥檛 think will be near as significant of a hearing loss as some of her players. But it鈥檚 kind of cool, because if you think about most sports, the communication becomes so dependent on verbal communication and talking. We鈥檒l have to try to expand use of all our senses.鈥

Griffin led the Lobos to a 27-24-4 record from 1993 through 1995. Two of her three years produced winning seasons as a Division I Independent (the program joined the WAC in 1996 and Mountain West in the league鈥檚 inaugural 1999-2000 academic year.)

There were wins against teams such as TCU, USC, Arizona, Washington State, Texas Tech and BYU, more than one being nationally ranked at the time.

鈥淚 would go to the grocery store wearing my UNM soccer sweatshirt, and everyone was, hey, congratulations on the match, or I was there. Everyone knew what we were doing, and they validated sort of women鈥檚 athletics at a university where at the other place I was, which was at San Diego State at the time, they couldn鈥檛 have cared less,鈥 Griffin said. 鈥淪o that was fun. It was really fun to start a program. And I think I鈥檓 just realizing that now that not everyone gets to do that, and seeing where the program is now is really, really heartwarming. But it was work.鈥

Griffin, who is not deaf nor does she know American Sign Language well enough to speak it, said her team has to rely on a variety of cues while on the field. She said she feels blessed that the players have welcomed her into their world.

鈥淗ow do I get to be so lucky to travel the world, work with Joy who is one of my best buddies, and be invited into a deaf community that soccer is the only reason I would have ever been invited into this culture and have kind of a new lens at looking at life,鈥 Griffin said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 given me a realization of what it鈥檚 like to not have equal access, so therefore I can fight a little bit harder for it in other avenues.鈥

UNM women's soccer team hosts friendly against US Women鈥檚 Deaf National Team

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A U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National Team player, in foreground, attempts to dribble around UNM player Kennedy Brown at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday.
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U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National Team members sign with each other during Friday's exhibition match against the UNM soccer team at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex.
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UNM women鈥檚 soccer team comes together in a group huddle before the game against the U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National team at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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UNM women鈥檚 soccer player Alysa Whelchel kicks the ball down the field during the match against U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National team at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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UNM women鈥檚 soccer player Kennedy Brown attempts to steal the ball from the U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National team at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday.
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UNM women鈥檚 soccer player Sophia Roberts kicks the ball past the U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National players at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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UNM women鈥檚 soccer player Alysa Whelchel kicks the ball past the U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National players at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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Fans sign amongst each other during the UNM women鈥檚 soccer team against the U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National team at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National player Teagan Frandsen throws the ball back to the field during the game against UNMl at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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A U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National team player attempts to stop UNM women鈥檚 soccer player Hayden Crowley from stealing the ball at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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UNM women鈥檚 soccer player Courtney Fernau kicks the ball down the field during the match against the U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National team at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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UNM women鈥檚 soccer player Sophia Roberts took the ball in a different direction after the U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National player attempted to steal the ball at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National team head coach Amy Griffin claps after the teams line up at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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UNM midfielder Natalie DeGagne (11) waves to the crowd before an Aug. 2 exhibition. DeGagne is one 13 seniors who will be playing their final home match on Thursday against San Diego State.
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UNM women鈥檚 soccer player Kennedy Brown (right) runs to grab the ball before U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National player at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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The U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National team signs autographs after their game against UNM at UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex on Friday, Aug 2.
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Amy Griffin has been coaching the U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National Team for the last 15 years.
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U.S. Women鈥檚 Deaf National Team head coach Amy Griffin, who was the first ever coach of the UNM women鈥檚 soccer team from 1993 to 1995, talks to her assistants during an exhibition Friday against the UNM soccer team.