By SYDNEY SCHWARTZ
The Patriot Ledger

MARSHFIELD - When his coaches bark orders, freshman Cory Barrow turns away - to Christine Robertson, his helping hands on the field.

Cory, 15, plays linebacker and running back on the Marshfield High School freshman football squad. But, unlike his teammates, Cory cannot hear his coaches’ instructions or the crowd’s cheers.

Barrow is deaf.

Each day at practice, Robertson - a school system employee - jumps in and out of huddles, interpreting the words of coaches, teammates and spectators. Sometimes, the two stand amid the frenzy of freshmen and coaches’ voices, conversing silently with their hands.

While the scene is unique, in many other ways Cory is much like any other teenage boy. He loves football, and does not like sitting on the sidelines.

‘‘It’s been hard. But he likes the challenge,’’ his mother Sheila Barrow said. ‘‘He definitely hasn’t given up anything. He keeps going forth with the challenge.’’

And when Robertson or another interpreter can’t make it to practice, Cory follows the lead of his teammates. During drills, since he can’t hear the whistle, a coach speaks into his hearing aid or taps him on the shoulder to let him know it’s his time to run, he says. At games, Robertson stands off the field, signing each play.

‘‘I can keep my eye on the person who has the ball,’’ Cory said at a recent practice

At age 3, doctors concluded that Cory had become ‘‘profoundly hard of hearing’’ while suffering from a high fever he had when he was 16 days old.

With hearing aids, Cory can hear up to 30 decibels, or what would sound like a soft whisper to a person with normal hearing.

Sheila Barrow said her son reads lips well, but ‘‘definitely does need the signing because he does miss clues, verbal clues, or he misunderstands them.’’ It is especially true on the football field, as helmets and face guards make it difficult to hear or read lips.

Cory lives on Smith Place in Cohasset with his parents and three siblings, ages 18, 13 and 5, who do not sign. Until fifth grade, he attended the The Learning Center for Deaf Children in Randolph. Then he went to the EDCO program in Newton for nearly two years. At the end of seventh grade, he transferred into Marshfield’s school system, which has a program for deaf and hard of hearing students. Robertson is part of the program, interpreting daily for a fourth-grader at Governor Winslow Elementary School.

Throughout his life, Sheila Barrow said, Cory hasn’t let his hearing loss affect him - or his love of sports. He has played hockey for eight years and football for about three. He also fishes and hunts. He plans to try out for the Rams’ hockey team this year.

The freshman football squad is his first experience with scholastic sports. It’s also the first time he has had an interpreter on the field - which, his mother said, the school thought was important.

‘‘He wishes he could play in the games a little more, but I think they all say that,’’ she said. ‘‘He’s definitely learned more respect for the sport and for the physical fitness that’s involved in it.’’

Some coaches speak right to Cory. Others turn to Robertson, asking her to tell him things.

‘‘I don’t even notice,’’ the freshman head coach, Josh Silva, said. ‘‘It’s usually just say it, she interprets it, if she’s right there.’’

‘‘He screws up just as much as anyone,’’ he added. ‘‘It’s not because he can’t hear.’’

Marshfield Rams head coach Lou Silva, Josh’s father, said Cory’s impairment could be a challenge.

‘‘Oftentimes football has its own language,’’ he said. ‘‘You’ve got to put it in certain terms so that it can easily be signed to Cory for the translation. Sometimes you have to be careful of what is said and how it's said so it can be translated quickly so that Cory’s able to assimilate it.’’

Robertson said Cory wants to know whatever pertains to him.

‘‘If one person is talking, no matter what, I interpret,’’ she said. ‘‘I should interpret everything. But you can’t on a football field.’’

School officials say Cory is the first deaf player to play on the Marshfield football team in recent memory, if ever. But he is not the only local deaf player. Hans Kohls, who is hearing impaired, is a captain on the Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School’s team.

Schools that cater to hard of hearing students have football programs, and several deaf players star on college football teams. Cory recently read a book on Kenny Walker, who played football for the Denver Broncos and had a similar hearing loss.

American Sign Language is offered at several South Shore high schools, including Marshfield, for the first time this year. Cory is in the class. Several of Cory’s teammates have learned signs from him and Robertson as well..

And, Cory said, not hearing can work to his advantage. He is able to concentrate on the game, rather than the noise around him.

And using peripheral vision, he is able to read lips and signs at the same time, Robertson said.

‘‘It’s less distracting,’’ Cory said. ‘‘I ignore the sounds and concentrate on the game.’’

Sydney Schwartz may be reached at sschwartz@ledger.com .

Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Saturday, November 17, 2007