Meet the Founder

I’m Christopher Marchese—a Deaf athlete, strategist, and proud founder and commissioner of the New England Deaf Softball Organization (NEDSO), a league created to restore pride, opportunity, and competitive excellence to Deaf athletes across New England.

 

Born in Connecticut and raised mostly in Massachusetts, my life has always existed at the intersection of silence and struggle. I attended Clarke School for the Deaf, graduating in 2004, and then transitioned into a mainstream private boarding school. From an early age, I learned that nothing would be handed to me—on the field, in the classroom, or in life.

 

I wasn’t born a great athlete.

I built myself into one.

 

Where It All Started

 

My athletic story began at age 3. One of my grandfathers tied a wiffle ball to a tree branch so I could take my first swings. Later, he brought me to the YMCA to shoot hoops and swim. I wasn’t a standout—at first.

 

In Little League, I was often the last pick. Once, I struck out with the bases loaded to end my team’s playoff run. I went home embarrassed and sat silently as my parents questioned my lack of effort. But everything changed the day I saw a VCR tape of Ozzie Smith—the Wizard. I studied every move. I became obsessed with fielding mechanics, timing, and precision.

 

That winter, I transformed my basement into a training ground. I threw tennis balls off the walls, dove onto beanbags, copied footwork, and built muscle memory—alone, every day. I wasn’t trying to be good. I was trying to get great.

 

By 12, I was an all-star.

By 13, I was promoted to the 14–18-year-old Babe Ruth League.

By 14, after my grandfather’s cancer diagnosis, I stepped up in basketball—averaging 30 points per game as an 8th grader. That moment changed me.

 

I became a varsity starter from freshman through senior year. I captained both soccer and basketball in high school. I was a floor general in basketball and a relentless goalkeeper in soccer—despite being 5’10”, I drew attention from college recruiters because of my instincts and toughness.

 

I earned respect not because I was handed anything, but because I worked for everything.

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The Return to the Diamond

 

In 2014, I entered the Deaf softball scene through Holyoke Athletics, a longtime member of the New England Athletic Association for the Deaf (NEAAD). It was my first softball tournament after stepping away from baseball for 5–6 years.

 

I hadn’t practiced. I was living in Southern Connecticut, and the tournament was in Western Mass. So I drove up the night before, slept in my car, and showed up ready.

 

That weekend, I went:​

 

• 13-for-14 at the plate

• 3 home runs

• 14 RBIs

• Made nearly every play at shortstop

 

And I was named both MVP and Golden Glove Winner—the first player in NEAAD history to win both awards in the same tournament.

 

Not because I was on the championship team.

But because I was the most impactful player on the field.

 

That tournament didn’t just give me validation.

It gave me vision.

 

Not the full vision for a league—

But the beginning of one.

 

Playing in NEAAD over the years showed me what was missing:

Structure. Identity. Leadership.

 

It planted the seed for something bigger.

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The Birth of NEDSO

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I founded the New England Deaf Softball Organization (NEDSO) to build what I never had growing up: a Deaf-led league that puts our identity at the center.

 

Today, NEDSO spans six states—Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine—uniting Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, CODA, SODA, and allies under one mission: to compete, to connect, and to lead.

 

We’re not just a league.

 

We’re a movement—rooted in legacy, respect, and empowerment.

 

We’ve introduced original innovations you won’t find anywhere else:​

 

• The Points System

• Local & Cross-Division Play

• The dramatic Gauntlet Playoffs

• The Commissioner’s Challenge

• And the fate-deciding Coin of Fate

 

Every part of NEDSO is built by the Deaf, for the Deaf—from branding and team uniforms to media, sponsor outreach, governance, and digital infrastructure. I oversee all of it. Because this isn’t just administration.

It’s legacy-building.

 

We’re creating a model of Deaf economic independence, where value stays in the community, opportunities are created for the next generation, and visibility is no longer optional—it’s earned.

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Who I Am

 

I’m not just a commissioner.

 

I’m the kid who got cut from the basketball team.

I’m the rookie who slept in his car.

I’m the athlete who trained alone in the dark gym until the form was perfect.

 

I’m the one who brought it back—because I couldn’t let it die.

 

NEDSO isn’t just about softball. It’s about building systems that can’t ignore us.

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Quick Facts​

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• Former high school team captain in soccer and basketball

• Lived in London for a year, developing team-first skills at a church gym

• Grand strategy & sports management game fanatic (Total War, Hearts of Iron)

• Once bitten by a rooster

• Oldest of three brothers

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My Philosophy

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I don’t wait for systems to include me.

I build systems that can’t ignore us.

 

This is more than a league.

This is Deaf pride.

This is legacy.

This is NEDSO.

 

And I’m proud to lead it.

 

— Commissioner Chris