Going for gold in Rio and beyond: Sitting volleyball player Katie Holloway competes in Paralympics

“We’re really in the best position to win gold than we’ve ever been in,” Holloway said enthusiastically, noting the team has already beat China, their toughest competitor, in multiple international events since the last games.

But the confidence Holloway now exudes didn’t come easy.

Holloway was born with a congenital bone abnormality known as fibular hemimelia, which led to her right foot being amputated below the knee as a young child. She recalled being teased as a kids, hiding her prosthetic when possible and growing up “hating my disability.”

But the skilled athlete didn’t let it hold her back and played able-bodied volleyball in high school. She fell in love with sports “because it normalized things for me. That was what felt comfortable to me, to compete and play at my best with the rest of the kids. … In high school, I started to feel recognized as an athlete first rather than be recognized as a person with a disability.”

Her passion for team sports even took her to college on a basketball scholarship, a major dream of hers. But it was challenging to overcome the frustration and hate she had grown up feeling toward her disability.

But as an undergrad at California State University at Northridge, she was recruited to represent the United States in the Paralympics — the first time she played an adaptive sport. Joining the team comprised of other women with disabilities, and playing on an international level became the catalyst for her learning to truly love herself.

“When I became part of the Paralympic team, being part of an adaptive sport was very therapeutic for me, both physically and emotionally,” Holloway said. “I met other girls like myself, they shared their stories with me and … every year it just keeps getting better and better. I’ve made really big strides since I made the Paralympics team.”

With her new sense of empowerment, she went on to complete a master’s degree in recreational therapy and now works for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. Throughout her career, she’s used recreation to help treat veterans, has taught disabled youth how to play sitting volleyball, and coordinates fitness and wellness programs for the VA.

Holloway credits her family and upbringing as part of what drives her work.

“Wanting to help people and having that as part of my life, is just second nature almost. In essence, that was just kind of natural for me to want to help people and I just got so much out of teaching people the sport and working with kids with disabilities,” Holloway said.

Standing at 6 feet 3 inches tall, Holloway said she hopes teaching kids about her time playing seated volleyball serves as inspiration.

“It’s really having the thought in my mind that I didn’t want another girl like me to grow up hating their disability. I want to show girls they’re so strong and powerful with their disability and they can do anything they put their mind to,” Holloway said. “Empowering them to believe in themselves and have confidence in themselves. Because I didn’t [as a kid], and it took me a long time to get there.”

After qualifying for Team USA as a 19-year-old college student, Holloway said she eventually moved to Oklahoma where the team was based. It was there she went back to school for her graduate degree while continuing to train.

After accepting the job in Palo Alto, she returned to California and Holloway noted this is the first time she’s worked full time while also training. She found a coach, gathered a crew of both able-bodied and disabled friends with whom she now practices at the nonprofit Riekes Center in Menlo Park. She reconvened with the team for a few weeks to practice last month before they headed to Brazil over the weekend.

She recalled being mesmerized by the bright lights and show of her first Paralympic Games in Beijing. After a decade of training and competing, she plans to make the most of Rio.

“This game also has a unique feeling, because I’ve been now working full time and training part time and I’ve been doing this now for 10 years and the feeling this time is, now I want to soak up the experience and give it everything I have,” Holloway said, adding she is not sure what the future holds. “It’s more of a question mark of I don’t know if I’ll keep playing. I could, I may; I don’t know, this could be my last game. I just want to soak it up.”

With the Paralympics typically held a few weeks after the Olympics, Holloway said watching athletes compete on the international stage is an emotional thrill as she’s well versed in the years of hard work leading up to the moment when it’s time to give it their all, and go for gold.

“Watching the Olympics, we get all fired up for it. I get goose bumps literally almost any time I watch another American win. I’m so grateful for the experience,” Holloway said. “But I also think for people watching the Olympics or Paralympics, it looks easy. But it’s so hard. The sacrifices and all the little details that we do to manage our lives in the four years is so great. It’s so much work, that’s why those moments are huge for us and so exciting.”

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

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