How One AUSL Star Communicates With Fans and Teammates Using ASL

Sam Landy isn’t just talented on the pitching mound. A unique skill she picked up in fourth grade is allowing her to communicate with her family in the stands and teammates on the field in front of the sold-out crowds that have been packing the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) games.

According to Savanna Collins, a senior reporter at Athletes Unlimited, Landry isn’t fully fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), but she knows a decent amount to communicate during her daily softball schedule.

After learning from a classmate in elementary school who communicated only by ASL, she started picking up the language and went on to study it as a foreign language option in high school. There, she learned to speak with those who are deaf and hard-of-hearing.

Landry reportedly taught her parents some ASL and frequently signs to them in the stands as a way to converse with them when she has a free moment during Volts games. She even took the time during her last collegiate season with the Oklahoma Sooners to teach some of her teammates how to sign encouraging phrases like “good job” during games and practices.

Fans noticed Landry signing “I love you” to her dad in the stands against the Talons at Love’s Field in Norman, Oklahoma.

.@sam_landry21 used ASL to communicate with her dad in the stands while mic’d up over the weekend and fans took notice 🤟

While not completely fluent, Landry continues to use the language that she learned in fourth grade daily to talk with family, teammates, and teach people new… pic.twitter.com/O1F1JyGjBT
— AUSL (@theAUSLofficial) June 25, 2025

Landry makes it a point to use ASL every day and strives to teach anyone around her how to sign to make the language more known. According to the LA Times, ASL is the fourth most studied foreign language at colleges and universities, and half a million people use ASL in the United States.

While Landry is spreading ASL knowledge to everyone around her, she is continuing to have a dominant first season as a professional. With 25 innings pitched so far, she has a 3.92 ERA with nine strikeouts.