Hannah Hampton doesn’t need this to be a big deal. However, to any viewer, it might seem like a big deal.
When the England and Chelsea goalkeeper sees the supermarket struggling to communicate, or when she sees a fan gesturing for her parents in the stands, or when she interacts with fans after a match, the 23-year-old doesn’t think. to respond to them. She’s just signing. A reflex, an instinct. Something normal.
“No one struggles in everyday life, and even if someone knows a little bit about BSL, there’s still a long way to go,” says Hampton, who learned sign language at a young age to be able to speak. with the gente. su cousin who is deaf. ” That’s the joy it puts on their faces, that they’re so surprised that anyone knows BSL. “
Since making his Chelsea debut in November, Hampton has temporarily become one of the most important players on the pitch for the reigning league champions, keeping nine blank sheets in 11 games in all competitions with a series of desirable saves subsidised by a composure on the ball that belies his years and is anything still normal.
Hampton’s performances have exalted her thanks to Chelsea’s incoming manager, Emma Hayes, who has called the goalkeeper “the most productive [goalkeeper] in the world” if she continues on her current trajectory.
In fact, Hampton’s acrobatic feats are accompanied by a whirlwind of noise: excitement, feverishness, roar. Still, there are those who don’t hear the noise. It is estimated that around 1. 2 million adults in the UK suffer from hearing loss severe enough to interfere with maximum conversations. However, there are only about 150,000 BSL users, more than the portion of whom are deaf.
This disparity is one of the main reasons why Hampton is so passionate about the English Football Association’s new involvement in its EE partner’s new crusade “Support. It’s In Your Hands”, which aims to inspire the use of sign language in deaf and non-deaf people. To make football as inclusive as possible.
Hampton remembers evolving from the days when his uncle signed with his cousin. She and her family learned words along the way. Still, the intermittent prayers only made a big difference.
“I didn’t want my cousin to feel isolated in the family, let alone in the way this affected him in his daily life,” Hampton says. “So I thought I’d try to learn more to keep him included and have conversations with him. See how his day is going and have great conversations with him.
“It’s quite difficult for deaf people to integrate. I tried to make sure that he felt included and that he felt like the other people were doing everything they could to get him to tell him. You shouldn’t be surprised that anyone knows about BSL. . It deserves to be an everyday occurrence for him.
Born with strabismus, a condition that causes her eyes to point in opposite directions, Hampton is used to thinking that football can become an untenable place. As a little girl, she underwent 3 surgeries, but none completely solved her challenge. At age 12, he was diagnosed with problems believing in intensity, a challenge that regularly makes it difficult for the goalkeeper. Hampton was dissuaded from pursuing her dream of being a professional footballer.
Hampton is determined to inspire others to be informed about BSL, which she says is less intimidating than many fear. But the Blues star is equally willing to point out that she’s not a hero for her efforts. That deserves to be normal, she says, a sentiment that applies to all of Hampton’s offer as she and her England teammates continue to help grow women’s football to unprecedented heights.
Since the Lionesses’ triumph at Euro 2022, women’s football has been gigantic; Break attendance and on-demand flow records and reconfigure outdated perceptions and norms. There are now twice as many women’s football groups registered in England as there were seven years ago, according to a BBC analysis, with the biggest build-up coming in 2022. 23, the season following the Lionesses’ triumph at Euro 2022, when just about 1,500 new teams were registered.
The phenomenon is called the “lioness effect,” a near-chain reaction that also led to an average increase in women’s TV sports viewing time in 2023 of 16%, according to Women’s Sport Trust. The increase is due to the 25. 7 million broadcasts of the Women’s World Cup on BBC iPlayer and ITVX. However, correlation is not causation, and Hampton emphasizes once again that the effect is manifold.
“I’d like to think we’ve played an important role, but it’s not the women’s team’s fault,” she says. “Just take a look at the World Cup in general and the European Championship, the appeal it generated and women’s football in general, not necessarily in football, but in all games. You can see the history that’s being made.
“It’s a wonderful thing. And women’s football is now a force to be reckoned with. We’re going in the right direction and that’s where we deserve to be. “
With England failing to qualify for the Summer Olympics in Paris after a disappointing Nations League campaign, the Lionesses are firmly focused on protecting their Euro 2022 title, qualifying for the festival this summer.
“It’s a wonderful honor, an honor that we’re not used to that kind of tension when we need to protect the title, but we’re all for it,” Hampton said. “We know how smart our team is, how smart we can be. Obviously, we have to get to the Euros first, but we’re all chasing this and winning it. “
Winning it may simply depend on who’s between the sticks. While Manchester United’s Mary Earps perfectly dominates the No. 1 jersey, players like Manchester City’s Hampton and Khiara Keating make strong arguments in their favour.
The fierce festival for the most sensible position, coupled with the influence female goalkeepers have had on the outcomes of countless consecutive matches, has reaped significant benefits in football at large, from record move offers to changes in confidence around a traditionally occupied position. as the biggest weakness of women’s football.
As usual, Hampton dismisses any credit for this. On the other hand, it highlights the improvement of female goalkeepers around the world.
“It’s a big step in the right direction,” Hampton says. “There was a total stereotype around goalkeepers and we were looking to eliminate them. I think in the last few years, especially since the Euros and the World Cup. , you’ve noticed how many goalkeepers win games and that’s because of the quality. We’ve been looking to improve.
“We’ve tried to take it to the next point and I think now other people are realising that goalkeepers make a difference in games and get the popularity they deserve. “
* For miniature classes and more facts on how to be informed BSL, eebe informsmart. co. uk
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