WPSL COMMISSIONER SET TO LEAD
USA DEAF SOCCER ASSOCIATION IN MILESTONE ROLE

 

Andrew Mosier | WPSL Communications

 

Kendra Halterman’s impact on the women’s game is unparalleled in her contributions and leadership in moving the game forward. Ahead of the WPSL’s 25th season in 2023, Halterman was named the league’s first female commissioner and last month she became part of history again when she accepted the position of the first executive director of the USA Deaf Soccer Association (USADSA).

 

For Suzanne Anderson, president of the USADSA, Halterman was the ideal candidate for this milestone position within the organization due to her commitment, vision, and overall passion for USADSA.

 

Halterman’s involvement with USADSA has grown over the course of a decade after receiving a call in 2016 to help set up a camp in Salt Lake City in preparations for the Deaf World Championships. Led by U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) icons Amy Griffin and Joy Fawcett on a shoestring budget, the camp springboarded the team to an unbeaten run to win the 2016 Deaf World Championship in Salerno, Italy.

 

Since that 2016 call, Halterman has doggedly advocated for U.S. Deaf Soccer, and the U.S. Deaf Women’s National Team by spearheading fundraising efforts, organizing camps, and helping to assemble a board of directors to oversee the growing organization that functioned outside of the auspices of the United States Soccer Federation until 2022.

 

“Until U.S. Soccer revamped their extended national teams and took Deaf Soccer under their umbrella, our main function was to find ways to pay for everything: balls, uniforms, travel, camps, World Cups, Olympics,” Halterman said. “Our main focus was just keeping the team alive, so deaf athletes had a place to play.”

 

Now fully funded by U.S. Soccer, the USADSA shifted its focus from the constant fundraising to the more grassroot efforts, which included appointing an executive director for the first time in the organization’s history. 

 

“Her [Kendra] ability to mold the organization into a national governing body for deaf soccer is unparalleled,” Anderson said. “She leads with her heart because she knows that our deaf and hard-of-hearing youth and adult players deserve it.”

 

Halterman will retain her role as WPSL Commissioner, something both organizations insisted on to continue raising awareness for both the WPSL and deaf community in the soccer landscape. There is already crossover with the two entities as deaf and hard-of-hearing players get more involved with the WPSL and the collegiate game.

 

For WPSL President, Sean Jones, who has seen first-hand Kendra’s passion and commitment to growing the women’s game, the dual role between the USADSA and the WPSL will “benefit both organizations and really impact the soccer community.”

 

As Executive Director, Halterman’s first order of business will build deaf soccer at the grassroots level by creating opportunities, enhancing awareness, and ensuring access to the sport within the deaf community. Halterman has already hit the ground running with this mission by leading clinics in Cincinnati with Team Impact and The Bridge Adaptive, and in Atlanta at Atlanta Area School for the Deaf where over 100 students participated. 

 

“Being part of the deaf community and having the opportunity to work toward creating a space for every deaf and hard-of-hearing individual is incredibly meaningful to me, Halterman said.”

 

Additionally, Halterman is working on a series of coaching courses tailored for those interested in coaching deaf soccer. Providing a platform for coaches to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge serves as a vehicle Halterman believes will impact the training environments and provide the best possible support for their athletes. 

 

“[We want to] create pathways for every player to thrive and realize their potential on and off the field, at whatever level that may be,” Halterman said. “And hopefully, we can find those diamonds in the rough we know are out there, so they can someday play for the National Team.”