Tamika Catchings has shone as an Olympic Gold Medalist, WNBA Rookie of the Year, and five-time WNBA All Star. She’s also started a foundation, Catch The Stars, to help at-risk youth achieve their dreams. Here the Indiana Fever star reflects on life in a sports-loving family.

I grew up in several places because my dad, Harvey, played professional basketball for several teams. As a girl on the playground, I didn’t try to be like Dr. J or Michael Jordan. I wanted to be the next Harvey Catchings. What did I know?

I wore glasses and hearing aids as a girl because of a hearing and speech problem. Every day I walked home crying because of the taunting from kids in my school. I can remember countless times when I just felt like giving up and couldn’t understand why God made me so different.

Sports were my way to feel normal. My parents were always there to wipe my tears away, brush me off, and send me back out to the world. From early on, they taught me that there was no giving up and no quitting. That’s the attitude that I carry in sports and in life as well.

My parents recognized my competitive nature from early on. “She always had that burning desire in her to play and get better,” my mom recalls. My dad remembers the time he broke up a fight between me and my older sister during a driveway pickup game: “I took the ball away and told them to cool off. Tauja went upstairs and started playing dolls. A few minutes later, I look outside and see Mika playing with an imaginary basketball, making all of her moves and jump shots. I knew then that she would be able to make it.”

No matter what, my parents have been by my side. One year at the University of Tennessee, I was in a serious shooting slump, and getting down on myself. I called Dad and told him what was going on and how I was feeling. He took off work and came to Knoxville. Here’s how he remembers our visit: “The amazing thing is that we didn’t talk about basketball that much. We talked about her goals, what she wanted to do and who she wanted to be. It’s not that she didn’t already know that I loved her and that I’d do anything in the world for her. But for me to go when she called and just be there with her—that impacted our relationship dramatically.”

Even as a girl, I hated to lose, and it showed through my actions and, sometimes, a pretty rotten attitude. Mom helped me change that, though, and I have tried to always keep that balance. She’s happy that I found something that makes me happy. She likes to say that all she wants for her children is that they are good people and have compassion.

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