Catchings Up On Inspiration -- When Tamika Catchings Spoke At A League For The Hard Of Hearing Banquet, She Touched Everyone In The Room. But It Was The Tennesee Forward Who Left As A Changed Person.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The day she listened changed her life irrevocably.

That June evening when Tennessee forward Tamika Catchings was honored by the League for the Hard of Hearing, she heard Atlanta Braves outfielder Curtis Pride, who is profoundly deaf, and others speak eloquently about their hearing loss. The banquet room at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan was brimming with hundreds of deaf and hearing-impaired children and adults. As other honorees read from prepared speeches, Catchings started to get nervous.

"I don't have anything written out," she told her coach, Pat Summitt.

"Those are the best speeches," Summitt said.

"So I just got up there and started talking from my heart," Catchings said.

Catchings was born with moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears, caused by damage to the nerve that connects the ear to the brain. She cannot hear certain pitches and tones or her own voice, and has slight difficulty with her speech.

Growing up in Deerfield, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, Catchings wore hearing aids until fifth grade. But when children made fun of the bulky devices that wrapped around her ears, she decided never to use them again. At the crossroads of adolescence, hearing whispers - or nothing at all - was easier than listening to the cruelty of other children.

If somebody speaks too low, or has their back to her, or is behind her, Catchings can't hear their voice. In school, she would read lips and fill in the blanks, missing everything when a teacher turned to write on the chalkboard. Still, she was an A student, relying primarily on her text books for instruction.

"As a kid, it was hard because nobody else wore them," Catchings said. "I just remember crying a lot and wanting to be by myself. Kids made fun of the way I talked, so I stopped wearing them. I was so self-conscious."

When Catchings finished sharing her story at the banquet, loud, sustained applause filled the room. Summitt wiped her eyes and understood.

"I got emotional when I realized what a difficult time she went through as a child," Summitt said. "Talk about a neat kid: She's so sincere, so thoughtful, so caring, there's so much good in her ..."

Catchings touched everyone in the room that day, but she was the one who left as a changed person.

"Everyone there was so happy with who they were, they weren't affected with how other people were treating them. To me that was inspirational because all my life I was so concerned about what other people thought about me," Catchings said. "I wouldn't tell anyone that I had a hearing problem and they would be talking and kids would say - to be funny - `Are you deaf or something?' And what do I say? Being there and seeing people accept who they were made me think, `Meek, you need to change.' "

She listened.

Although teammate Chamique Holdsclaw might may be the greatest player the women's game has ever seen, Catchings has got next.

"I'm not surprised that expectations are so high, that people think Tamika could be the next Chamique Holdsclaw in terms of impact on the game," Summitt said. "But they're so different in their style of play."

Holdsclaw plays the game with poise and grace. She drives to the basket, then pulls up elegantly for a fadeaway. When she floats over a player and changes her shot in midair, time is suspended and gravity ignored. On the other hand, Catchings is a slasher, a penetrator, quicker and more explosive. She will get by you, by land or by air, and finish at the basket before you know what hit you.

"I think Tamika takes us to another level when she's on," Summitt said. "She just plays so hard and has great passion for the game. She could be one of the best in the game because she has it in her heart."

Last season Catchings earned Kodak All-American honors, becoming just the second Lady Vol to do so in her freshman season (Holdsclaw was the other). Catchings broke all of Holdsclaw's freshman marks except rebounds. And like Holdsclaw, Catchings won a national championship in her first year.

Now as a sophomore, a preseason All-American and a Naismith Player of the Year candidate, the rim has been raised.

Next season, the torch will be passed. "I think we need that in order for the women's game to grow," Holdsclaw said. "I think that's what's killed us in the past. There was Cheryl Miller and then 20 years later, Chamique Holdsclaw. In order to keep the game up there, we need those players each and every year."

Said Catchings, "It would be good, because kids would have someone to look up to and raise their game to. After me there will be somebody else. That's cool."

During a trip to Stanford last December, Summitt told her team over the bus loudspeaker the curfew time. That night, Catchings showed up 30 minutes late. She hadn't heard the announcement. It was time to finally bring it up.

Before Catchings arrived at Tennessee, Summitt knew of her hearing loss, but her high school coach said it wasn't a problem. After all, it didn't seem to affect her play; she was the National High School Player of the Year, for heaven's sake.

When the team returned home, Summitt told her, "I wear contacts, I wear orthotics, and very soon I'll be in bifocals. Will you consider looking at the new hearing aids?"

Catchings listened.

"I am thankful Pat suggested it," Catchings said of her tiny, can't-tell-they're-even-there hearing aids.

Now her new world is wonderfully amplified. "Now I can hear myself talk. Before, if I wasn't looking at Pat, I wouldn't pick things up; I would be doing one thing and everybody else was doing another thing. Now I pick up everything a lot quicker. I also talk better on the court, too."

More importantly, the experience allowed Catchings to finally accept herself for who she is.

"Catch is a role model," Holdsclaw said. "Little kids who wear hearing aids can say, `Mom, Tamika Catchings wears hers; I think that's cool.' " Although she hasn't talked to Catchings about her hearing loss ("I'm not the type to bring it up," Holdsclaw said), she is inspired. "Anybody who goes through something in life that can hinder them and doesn't let it is remarkable to me," she said.