Champion says playing sitting volleyball has made her more comfortable with her disability

From The Oklahoman:

In high school, Katie Holloway (pictured) pulled her long socks up to cover her prosthetic.

She didn't want the college basketball scouts to notice her disability.

"I didn't want anyone to know," she said. "I wanted people to see me as an athlete first, not a disabled person."

Some colleges stopped recruiting Holloway after finding out her right leg had been amputated at the ankle. Holloway was upset after the first school pulled out, but then made up her mind to achieve her goal of playing college basketball anyway.

Holloway eventually signed with Cal State Northridge and excelled.

Now Holloway has set another goal — winning gold at this week's Sitting Volleyball World Championships at the University of Central Oklahoma. She has been focused in leading the U.S. to a perfect 5-0 record in pool play. With her team preparing to face Russia at 1:30 p.m. Friday, she doesn't plan to let up now.

"I'm very confident going into bracket play," she said. "If we keep playing our game, no one can stop us."

Holloway, 24, hasn't let anything, including her amputation, stop her.

She was born in 1986 without a fibula in her right leg. She had her right foot and ankle amputated when she was 20 months old. Still, she began playing basketball in a Seattle suburb, Lake Stevens, when she was four. Most observers never noticed her prosthetic.

"I had some difficult moments growing up with a prosthetic, but it never held me back in sports," she said.

Holloway succeeded at every level of basketball she played. She led her high school team to the state tournament and in college averaged almost 15 points a game as a senior.

She was first introduced to sitting volleyball in 2006. She moved to Oklahoma to train full-time after graduating in 2008 with a sociology degree.

Holloway has been on the team since coach Bill Hamiter took over last year. The two share a mutual respect, Hamiter said.

"She's an all-around player who does nearly everything well," he said. "But she wants to improve and allows me to push her hard and point out what she's not doing well."

Holloway said her time with the volleyball team has taught her a few things about herself. She is no longer shy about her disability. It took her weeks to tell her college teammates about her prosthetic, now she plays without it for the world to see.

She feels more comfortable with who she is. No longer is she worried about what people think when they learn about her amputation.

Holloway wants to share that feeling with other disabled athletes. She is taking classes in leisure studies at Oklahoma State University and wants to work with disabled children back in Seattle.

"So many disabled kids can benefit from getting involved with Paralympic sports," she said. "In able-bodied sports, they are pushed to the side, but here, they can have fun being who they are."

These days, Holloway isn't using socks to cover up anything.

"Being a part of this team has opened me up," she said. "Now, I really know who I am as a disabled athlete."