OUT OF THE BOX CSUN'S HOLLOWAY ONCE SHIED AWAY FROM TALKING ABOUT HER PROSTHETIC LEG -- BUT NOT ANYMORE.Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. Staff Writer The outside of the box was easy to decorate. Everyone pretty much did the same thing. They cut pictures of their favorite movie stars out of the tabloids and glued them on, or taped the CD covers of their favorite music on the sides. A few more artistically inclined girls used crayons to draw an introspective in·tro·spect intr.v. in·tro·spect·ed, in·tro·spect·ing, in·tro·spects To engage in introspection. [Latin intr scene or two, but as ice-breakers go, it was pretty straightforward. Decorate the outside of the box to show your teammates something about yourself. The inside of the box, where you were supposed to put something that people didn't know about you, is where things got tricky for Katie Holloway. She knew that they knew. They had to have noticed how high she pulled her socks or the ill-fitting sleeve on her knee. She knew they were curious. But she also didn't want them to define her because of it. And so for the first week of training camp, she just didn't talk about it and hoped they wouldn't ask. This was her chance, though. Get it out there, make a joke and move on. It was now, or forever awkward. So she opened up the box, took a deep breath, then cut the leg off a Barbie doll Barbie doll popular dress-up doll; extremely conventional and feminine. [Am. Hist.: Sann, 179] See : Fads and closed the lid. ``Yes, I have a prosthetic pros·thet·ic adj. 1. Serving as or relating to a prosthesis. 2. Of or relating to prosthetics. prosthetic serving as a substitute; pertaining to prostheses or to prosthetics. leg,'' Holloway said as she opened up the box to her new teammates on the Cal State Northridge women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. team. ``If you want to know about it, you can just ask me.'' No one knew what to do next. She wasn't laughing or smiling, so they didn't either. She wasn't crying and wasn't about to, so they stayed silent. It was awkward, but at least it was out there. But it seemed weird -- like someone had taken all the air out of the room, and no one knew when it was OK to breathe again to take breath; to feel a sense of relief, as from danger, responsibility, or press of business. See also: Breathe . Everyone knew for sure now. And the longer the lid stayed off that box, she thought, the more they would always think of her as the girl with the prosthetic leg, the more they would wonder if she wasn't doing a conditioning drill because her leg hurt or if she was just using it as an excuse to get out of running. She shuddered at that thought and quickly closed the lid on the box, where it would remain locked away for the next twoyears. It seems silly now. All the hiding and worrying and angst angst 1 n. A feeling of anxiety or apprehension often accompanied by depression. angst 2 abbr. angstrom . All the times she deflected de·flect intr. & tr.v. de·flect·ed, de·flect·ing, de·flects To turn aside or cause to turn aside; bend or deviate. [Latin d questions about her leg or wore long pants in the dog days of summer just to hide it. She's a junior now. The box is long gone. She doesn't think twice about going swimming without her leg or painting her toenails. All 10 of them. But back then, she was just a freshman trying to prove herself to her teammates, trying to show them that the prosthetic that went up to her right knee wasn't going to hold her back. She had earned her spot on the CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge roster as a basketball player, and that's how she wanted to be known. After all, the coaches at Northridge offered her a scholarship before they even asked about her prosthesis prosthesis (prŏs`thĭsĭs): see artificial limb. prosthesis Artificial substitute for a missing part of the body, usually an arm or leg. . ``I didn't want to be a charity case,'' she said. ``I didn't want the stigma stigma: see pistil. Stigma mark of Cain God’s mark on Cain, a sign of his shame for fratricide. [O. T.: Genesis 4:15] scarlet letter . I just wanted to be established as a basketball player and then have people say, `Oh yeah, by the way... ''' Her leg was just her leg. She was used to it by now. Holloway was born without a fibula fibula (fĭb`yələ): see leg. , had her right foot amputated when she was 20months old and spent the rest of her life learning to do everything just as well as everyone else. Actually, better than everyone else. She led Lake Stevens (Wash.) High to a district championship in basketball and won letters in volleyball volleyball, outdoor or indoor ball and net game played on a level court. An upright net, 3 ft (or 1 m) high, the top of which stands 8 ft (2.43 m) from the ground for men, 7 ft 4 1/8 in (2. . Everyone back home knew about her leg, but it wasn't an issue. Once, during an interview, her basketball coach even forgot which leg she wore the prosthesis on. But during that freshman year in college, she was starting over and trying to show a new group that her leg was just her leg and she could rebound as well as anyone. ``They told us on her recruiting trip that she had a prosthetic leg, so we all knew about it,'' Northridge guard Ofa Tulikihihifo said. ``We just figured she might be a little slower because of it. But it was totally the opposite. She proved she belonged in Division I the first week she was here. One leg, two legs, no legs, she belonged.'' `... I had no idea' Unless you noticed the slight limp LIMP - ["Messages in Typed Languages", J. Hunt et al, SIGPLAN Notices 14(1):27-45 (Jan 1979)]. Holloway has while running down the court, or the way she jumps off both feet on a layup from the left side of the basket, you would probably just assume she had a minor knee injury, judging by the sleeve over her right knee. Proving she belonged wasn't as easy as she made it look. The only people who really knew what she went through were her roommates and best friends on the team, Crystal Hahs and Cassandra Markovich. They were the only ones she let see her without her prosthesis on at night or how much pain she would be in after running on it for hours during practice. ``She always used to hide it,'' said Hahs, a sophomore center from San Clemente San Clemente (săn klĭmĕn`tē), city (1990 pop. 41,100), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; inc. 1928. Camp Pendleton, a large U.S. marine base, adjoins the city, which is chiefly residential. . ``I was the first one she even let see her real leg. Everyone knew, but you weren't supposed to ask about it. ``Most of the time, I don't think opponents even know because she's so good.'' Holloway was named to the Big West Conference all-freshman team two years ago. Last season, as a sophomore, she was the conference's Sixth Woman of the Year, averaging 7.8 points and 4.7 rebounds off the bench. UC Davis coach Sandy Simpson Sandy Simpson is an actor who starred on television, he did not have a long career in acting though he is remembered for his role in the science fiction community in the 1984 hit NBC mini series V: The Final Battle didn't even know about her leg the first time he scouted Northridge on film. ``The first time we saw her, I had no idea,'' he said. ``I just knew she killed us on the boards. ``I'm not proud, though. If I knew she couldn't go one way, we'd take advantage. We're here to win basketball games. But you can't do that with her. If you try to force her one way, she'd make you pay. It doesn't seem like it's any kind of impediment A disability or obstruction that prevents an individual from entering into a contract. Infancy, for example, is an impediment in making certain contracts. Impediments to marriage include such factors as consanguinity between the parties or an earlier marriage that is still valid. to her at all. She's just a really good basketball player.'' After last season, Holloway starting thinking about the box. That it might be time. She had established herself as a basketball player. Hardly anyone even asked about her leg anymore. Every once in a while, an opposing coach will ask Northridge coach Staci Schulz about Holloway. ``They want to know why we recruited a kid with a prosthetic leg,'' Schulz said. ``I just say that we recruited her because she is a good basketball player. She gets it done. She has good hands, she doesn't get pushed out of the paint and she has a presence in the post.'' Still, it was scary scar·y adj. scar·i·er, scar·i·est 1. Causing fright or alarm. 2. Easily scared; very timid. scar . Saying you're more comfortable and actually being more comfortable are two different things. Was she supposed to hold a news conference or something? Do an infomercial in·fo·mer·cial also in·for·mer·cial n. A relatively long commercial in the format of a television program. [info(rmation) + (com)mercial.] Noun 1. ? Announce it in practice? An invitation to open up The answer came in the form of an invitation. Team trainer Scott Shaw told Holloway about the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. national sitting volleyball team. She resisted at first, but when they offered to fly her out for a tryout, she decided to give it a shot. She made the team and quickly became a star. The U.S. women finished fifth at the sitting volleyball world championships in Roermond, Netherlands, over the summer. Holloway led the team with 21points on 17 kills and four blocks in a victory over Ukraine. ``I've changed so much since I started playing volleyball,'' Holloway said. ``They really opened me up and made me feel comfortable with who I am. ``I mean, one of the things they do to rookies is hide their (prosthetic) leg. I'd never been able to do something like that and laugh about it before. The men's team is even crazier.'' After the tournament, she let the school put out a press release. There would be no putting the lid back on the box after that. Hahs noticed the change in her roommate immediately. ``She's really come out of her shell since the volleyball team,'' Hahs said. ``I think it's really about growing up and maturing, realizing you are who you are. She's getting more gusty gust·y adj. gust·i·er, gust·i·est 1. Blowing in or marked by gusts: a gusty storm. 2. Characterized by sudden outbursts. about it all the time.'' Holloway wears open-toed shoes around campus, takes her prosthesis off in front of people and cracks jokes about it during practice. She even goes to the beauty shop to get a pedicure from time to time. ``I ask for half off,'' she says with a wry smile. Most of the time, she chooses pink or red nail polish, but recently she went a little wild and picked teal teal: see duck. teal Any of about 15 species (genus Anas, family Anatidae) of small dabbling ducks found on the major continents and many islands. Many are popular game birds. . It's the kind of thing most women do when they're in college. They experiment with hairstyles and fashion, paint their toes blue or dye their hair black. It's what you're supposed to do in college to find out who you are. Her teammates and coaches look even happier about it than she does. ``We knew in the beginning that she wasn't comfortable with it, so we just had to wait until she came around,'' Tulikihihifo said. ``But in the back of my mind, I was always thinking, `Why do you want to hide it? You have no idea how awesome we all think you are.''' ramona.shelburne@dailynews.com (818) 713-3617 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) CSUN's Katie Holloway was born without a fibula and had her right foot amputated as an infant. (2) CSUN's Katie Holloway goes one-on-one against teammate Shanice Howard during a recent practice. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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