Sandy, UT – 7/25/18
Two UYSA players have been called up to attend to the
United States Deaf Women’s National Soccer team training camp in Michigan.
Sophie Post (Utah Avalanche) and Payton Degraw (Blue Knights) have both accepted invites to attend the camp July 21-26.
In Michigan, Sophie and Payton will have the opportunity to train with some of the best women's soccer players in the nation who understand the challenges of the field with a hearing loss.
This will be Sophie’s second year attending USDWNT training camp and a first for Payton. They are both extremely excited and eager to showcase their skills for the USDWNT coaches. Sophie and Payton have aspirations to be on the United States National Team.
Training at camp ends July 25th with a beach day to follow on the 26th.
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About United States Deaf Women’s National Team:
The deaf women's national team is coached by former U.S. Women's National Team player Amy Griffin, and Hall of famer Joy Fawcett. According to usdeafsoccer.com, the team plays at a level equal to a strong NCAA Division 2 team. The women are 2005, 2009, and 2013 Deaflympics Gold Medal winners as well as the 2012 and 2016 Deaf World Cup Champions.
In order to be eligible to play for the deaf national team, a player must have an average hearing loss of at least 55 decibels in their best ear. There are no age requirements, athletes selected for the team are as young as 15 and as old as 38.
If you are interested in trying out, contact women’s representative Meghan Maiwald at womenrep@usdeafsoccer.com.
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About Sophie:
Sophie Post is a 4.0 student and will be a sophomore at Murray High School.
Sophie’s Hearing Loss is 65-70 decibels.
Sophie was born with a rare form of genetic hearing loss called Reverse Slope Hearing Loss and has worn Hearing aids since age 4. Sophie was named the Utah Speech Language Association Ambassador of the year for 2018.
Sophie relies primarily on lip reading when on the field. Hearing aid technology has advanced a lot in the past few years and has made them better for sports. For Sophie, one of the hardest parts of the game is not being able to hear when the defenders are behind her during windy and rainy weather. Sophie has always had to adjust to playing soccer with a hearing loss. She often jokes with her coaches and teammates that she was not ignoring them, she is just deaf. She sometimes has difficulty hearing coaching instructions from the sidelines and has learned to adjust her play to compensate.
Sophie has been passionate about soccer from a young age. She began playing when she was just 4 years old playing in the Murray City Youth Recreation league. Sophie played on the Murray High School soccer last year as a Freshman under coach Brady Smith.
She has played on a few different club teams and is currently playing for one of Utah Avalanche’s premier teams. Her team just returned from playing in the Far West Regional championships in Hawaii after receiving the wildcard slot as finalists in the UYSA State Cup
Sophie was selected for 2017-18 TOSH State Select team ODP (US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program) and hopes to make the 2018-19 team.
Sophie is a versatile player and plays multiple positions, Forward, Midfield and Defender. She is one of those players that works hard training daily year-round. When Sophie isn’t practicing with her high school or club team, she trains with former professional soccer player, Olympic gold medalist, and Utah Royals assistant coach Amy LePeilbet and former professional soccer player, Utah’s own Liz Bogus.
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About Payton:
Payton will be a senior at Brighton High School. She maintains a 3.5 GPA. Payton's hearing loss is 110 decibels. She was born profoundly deaf. Payton's Doctors were unable to determine why she was born without hearing. She has worn hearing aids since she was 6 months old, but the hearing aids only give her some access to environmental noises, but no speech.
Early in Payton's soccer career, she played forward. she made the switch to keeper/goalie in 8th grade and has never looked back. To receive instructions from her coaches, Payton uses an interpreter most of the time, during club season one of her parents act as the interpreter.
Payton started to really love soccer at the age of 7. She played as young as 4 years old but didn't become passionate about the sport for a few years. She played with AYSO from 7 to 11 years of age then moved with a group of her AYSO team to Blue Knights Soccer Club at the age of 12. Payton has been playing with the Blue Knights Soccer Club for the past 6 years under Coach Paul Gleeson. Her club team recently finished 3rd in the 18U Premier 1 Division. Her team is ranked 5th in the state in the Platinum Tier. They were Champions of the 2018 President's Day Tournament in Phoenix AZ. and a semi-finalist in the 2018 Utah Youth Soccer Association State Cup. Payton has played with Brighton High School soccer for the past three years. As a freshman they won the District Playoff and again as a sophomore with a record of 9-0 games with 30 goals for and 0 goals allowed. (Payton is a keeper and posted a shut out for the entire season).
Thanks to her years as a Forward, Payton is a goalie with very good "foot" skills. Her team refers to her as the sweeper keeper as they use her a lot to move the ball out of the back field. As a goalie she is fearless, aggressive, and very smart. She performs very well in high pressure situations. She is always very positive as a teammate, helping to keep spirits high and motivating her teammates.
