Standing Tall Through It All -- Seattle Reign Guard Kate Starbird Talks Of Growing Up Tall

Kate Starbird of the Seattle Reign professional women's basketball team has played sports for as long she can remember.

"All my siblings participated in sports, but I'm the only one who couldn't get enough of them," says Kate, who has an older brother, an older sister and two younger brothers.

"I started out in gymnastics, but I wasn't any good at it. I played soccer from the time I was 5 to 15 years old. I loved soccer, but I grew too tall (6 feet 2 inches)," says the 1997 college basketball Player of the Year.

"My parents were worried that I might be self-conscious, so my dad made a competition out of my height. He would call me a runt and say I was shorter than him. It worked. I just wanted to grow taller than my dad so he couldn't call me a runt. My dad really helped me."

Kate admits it felt a little weird being 6 feet tall at the age of 14. But at Lakes High School in Tacoma, she became an all-star basketball player. She earned a scholarship to Stanford University, where she graduated with a degree in computer science and led her team to three straight Pacific-10 championships.

"Education is the most important thing when you're young. Basketball has given me my education," says Kate, a high-school National Merit Scholar.

This is Kate's second season as a professional basketball player. She says her rookie season was a good learning experience. "Everybody is bigger and stronger at this level. You just have to make adjustments, work hard and remember what you do well," she says.

A message Kate would like to get across to kids: "No matter what you do, have confidence in yourself. Don't lose confidence because of a bad shot, game, week or year. Look at me on the court. I'm too skinny, but still I can play."

Did you hear the one? Q: What is as big as an elephant but doesn't weigh anything? A: An elephant's shadow.

Starbird Word Find: Find the words from the list below hidden in the puzzle. All words have something to do with Kate Starbird of the Seattle Reign. Words can be found up, down, backward, forward and diagonally.

Smart. Loyal. Family. Tacoma. Basketball. Soccer. Tall. Skinny. Athletic. Confident.

Women's Professional Basketball There are two leagues for professional women's basketball: the American Basketball League (ABL) and the Women's NBA. The Seattle Reign is part of the ABL.

Facts About Kate Starbird. 1. Her favorite book series as a kid was Babar books. 2. Her real name is Catherine Evelyn Starbird. 3. Her birthday is July 30, 1975. 4. Both of her grandfathers competed in the pentathlon at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. One of them, Charles Leonard, won the silver medal in that event. 5. Her hobbies include water skiing, playing guitar and crossword puzzles.

Write to Wordy? What do you think cars, televisions and telephones will be like in the year 2098? Send a color drawing along with your essay. Keep essays to 100 words or fewer. Please mail to My Words, c / o The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 1138, Seattle, WA 98111. Please include your telephone number. The deadline is Nov. 23.

Solve the Riddle: Q. Why does the Statue of Liberty stand in New York Harbor?

To find the answer, decode the vowels is the sentence below. A=1. E=2. I=3. O=4. U=5.

B2C15S2 SH2 C1NN4T S3T D4WN!

Answer: Because she cannot sit down!