Trah’Nae St. Julien doesn’t get distracted by all the noise.

During the game, the New Iberia Senior High junior middle blocker stands patiently on the volleyball court waiting for the opposition to make their move. Trah’Nae is anticipating where the opponent will attempt a spike at the net, and when they do commit she quickly slides the few feet over to her right, raises her arms high in the air and sends the ball forcefully back down across the net. 

The opponent saves the ball from landing on the floor and sets up another player to hit it across the net again, but the ball falls out of bounds and the referee blows his whistle. 

The enthusiastic home crowd erupts with cheers, including Trah’Nae’s parents Anegra and Tracey St. Julien, but Trah’Nae remains unfazed. She continues to patrol the net waiting on blocking another attempt. Before a Lady Jacket teammate can grab her to let her know of the point won, the referee blows the whistle again toward Trah’Nae but she doesn’t hear the sound. 

It isn’t because she is trying to be rude to the official, it is just simply she can’t hear him because Trah’Nae is legally deaf.

“We’ve had a few instances this season with officials trying to blow the whistle at her and we have to tell them that she can’t hear them,” NISH volleyball coach Brittany Dronet said. “Other than those moments, I don’t think other players or coaches even notice that she is deaf.”

“I have to go tell them sometimes that I am deaf,” Trah’ Nae said. “If I don’t know the whistle has been blown I will just keep on playing. I just love to play.”

No hearing, no problem

Trah’Nae was born deaf but no one realized it for a few years, which frustrated the child.

“It was difficult for me to hear what they were saying or doing,” Trah’Nae said. “It is still is difficult sometimes if people aren’t facing me. I will get frustrated.”

Her speech was a little off but many children, who are not deaf, at the age of 2 or 3 have problems with speaking. In addition, Trah’Nae had become a natural with a skill that would aid her for years to come — reading lips. 

“We didn’t start noticing it until when she was around three years old,” said Anegra, who’s family has a history of deafness with two nieces, an uncle, cousin and brother who were either partially deaf or completely deaf.. “We found out she was born hard of hearing, but she was so unique that she had been reading lips all that time. I remember the doctor telling us he had never experienced a child that young having already learned how to read lips.”

Trah’Nae has only 23 percent hearing in her right ear, and only 34 percent in the left ear. That meant for years, the young girl would be forced to wear hearing aids to help with her school and be forced to get an interpreter. Yet, there deafness never dampered her spirit. 

“Trah’Nae is an awesome child,” Anegra said. “She doesn’t let his disabilities keep her down. She refused to let her disability get in the way. She never wants to be singled out.”

Trah’Nae adjusted very well to being deaf through elementary and middle school but she would have some growing pains — socially when she arrived at junior high where she experienced bullying by some of her peers.

“There was a few years there that she had a lot of bad days,” Anegra said. “She didn’t like the way she looked or the way that she talked. In the seventh and eighth grade she got around other girls and they would clown here as all kids do. We just keep being positive with her. Told her how cool it was that she was learning two different languages. We just told her that she was created differently in the eyes of God.” 

It was during this time that Trah’Nae fell in love with volleyball. 

“I love sports,” Trah’Nae said. “I love playing volleyball. I love being part of the team and being out there to make coach and my teammates proud. I couldn’t wait to play for the high school team.”

Acceptance on the court

Trah’Nae found a home on the volleyball court and with her fellow Lady Yellow Jackets. Her freshman season the team got earbuds to help everyone understand what Trah’Nae hears when she is on the court. In the years since, the players also have learned how to sign volleyball terms to better communicate with Trah’Nae.

“For most people they use both hands to count out numbers,” said Laura Delcambre, who has served as Trah’Nae’s interpreter since seventh grade. “But in sign language you count all on one hand so it poses a little more of a challenge.”

“It makes me really happy that they do that,” Trah’Nae said. “I helped them learn the signs and they wanted to learn. Plus, it has helped me understand how to play better on the court with them.”

Dronet had to make the adjustment of coaching a deaf player when she took over coach her alma mater two years ago. 

“Normally as a coach you would just step in and say what you have to say,” Dronet said. “With Trah’Nae I have to wait for her interpreter and she is very hands on and she is right by my side. It took me a few weeks to get used to that but to be honest it was pretty easy.”

With support from teammates and coaches, Trah’Nae has become one of the team’s best players, earning a varsity letter all three seasons and serving as the team’s starting middle blocker. 

“Volleyball is such a vocal game,” Dronet said. “Communication is the biggest component to have a successful volleyball team. You have to let your teammates know things in a split second during a match. So for her not to have that sense and still be successful is so impressive.”

The other assistant coach

Helping aid Trah’Nae in becoming a star volleyball player is Delcambre, who is often mistaken as a NISH assistant coach because of her proximity to Dronet on the bench, and on the court during timeouts.  

“Most people think she is an assistant coach,” Dronet said with a laugh. “It took a couple of weeks because I would have to make myself wait and pause to allow Laura to sign what I said it to Trah’Nae. But It didn’t take long though for us to get that down and now we just roll with it.”

Delcambre explained why she needs to be positioned in that manner.

“I am normally standing next to the person who is speaking,” Delcambre, who has been an interpreter for two decades, said. “So all day long I am standing right next to the teachers. I do that so she can see what your expressions are so she can understand how you feel when you are saying them. With volleyball, I need to be close to coach but during games I can only be close to coach when their is timeout. So she has to make sure to read coach’s lips from the court.”

That doesn’t mean that Trah’Nae still doesn’t get frustrated by her deafness.

From time to time, Trah’Nae will get upset about a negative play, especially when miscommunication occurs.

“She does get frustrated sometimes,” Dronet said. “Sometimes she takes it out on her teammates but mostly she is mad at herself. It sometimes comes off to others that don’t know her it will come off as her having a poor attitude. It’s not that at all. She is just so hard on herself.”

“She is very hard on herself,” said Anegra, who with her husband serves as pastors at New Jerusalem Ministry in New Iberia. “She wants everything to be perfect. She just wants to make everybody happy.”

For Delcambre, she has to put hew own emotions aside about watching Trah’Nae so she can help her put a bad play behind her and move forward.

“I suffer with her,” Laura said. “It just breaks your heart because you can’t do anything for her at that moment. If say its practice and I see she is frustrated then I can go up to her and tell her that they don’t mean it like that and they mean it this way. Calm down. If it is during a game then I have to wait until a timeout and then I bring up about what happened earlier.”

Trah’Nae will play her final game of the regular of the season Thursday when NISH hosts Houma Christian. Then the 17-year-old will turn her attention to having cochlear implants, which will hopefully improve her hearing to the point that she can play at the next level, installed in January. Trah’Nae aspires to play for a community college, transferring to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to play for the Lady Cajuns and then getting her degree to become a volleyball coach.

For right now, Trah’Nae is just having fun playing a sport she loves, and being regarded as just a good player and not a good player with a disability. 

“It makes me feel happy that they think I am good athlete and not a deaf athlete,” Trah’Nae said. “I just always try to stay positive and have a positive attitude no matter what. I just love and thankful to be playing this game.”