- May 4th, 2006, 1:00 am
#14383
Feenstra to add sports award to list of achievementshttp://www.mlive.com/golf/grpress/index ... xml&coll=6
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
By Gretchen Flemming
The Grand Rapids Press
Since last summer, Katie Feenstra has finished her rookie WNBA season, graduated from Liberty University, played basketball in South Korea, broken her nose and visited the ER twice.
It has been an eventful year for the 23-year-old Grand Rapids native. She's being recognized for some of her achievements -- probably not the broken nose -- as a March of Dimes West Michigan Sports Award winner. The ninth annual banquet will honor athletes, coaches, teams and administrators from the area's high school, college, amateur and professional ranks.
Feenstra began her second training camp with the San Antonio Silver Stars last week and said she's much more comfortable this year.
"It was a very hard transition for me," said the graduate of the former Grand Rapids Baptist, now NorthPointe Christian, High School. "My life totally changed. I still have a lot of learning to do, but this year it's 100 percent easier."
A 6-foot-8 center, Feenstra averaged 8.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game during her rookie season, in which she played about 20 minutes per game. The Silver Stars struggled, finishing last in Western Conference at 7-27, the second-worst record in the 13-team league.
After last season, Feenstra returned to Liberty, where she had an outstanding collegiate career that ended in the Sweet 16 round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. She finished her final semester of classes and in December earned a bachelor's degree in physical education. She then left to play basketball in a six-team league in South Korea that allows just one American each team roster.
"The first couple of weeks were really hard, I was homesick," Feenstra said. "But then I realized the opportunity I had, and the time just flew by. It was a good experience, a good way to keep in shape."
The league featured some top American players, including Tina Thompson (Houston Comets, USC) and Alana Beard (Washington Mystics, Duke). Feenstra said all of the competition was good.
"The Korean players were really small, so it was a really fast-paced game," she said.
While there, Feenstra made two visits to the emergency room, once for food poisoning and once for a broken nose suffered in a game on an accidental elbow from Beard.
"I hadn't been to the ER since I was about 2, then I went twice in two months," she said. "But I got stronger as a player, mentally and physically."
Last month, the Silver Stars added Tennessee's Shanna Zolman, Baylor's Sophia Young and DePaul's Khara Smith through the WNBA draft. Feenstra said they already make the Silver Stars a better team.
"We've got some great new players, they fit right in," she said. "Our team already has more chemistry."
Feenstra said she will be unable to attend the May 24 banquet due to the start of the WNBA season. The Silver Stars play three preseason games beginning Saturday before the regular season opens May 21 at Houston. Her parents, Wayne and Pat Feenstra, are scheduled to accept the award.
"I'm very honored they considered me," she said. "There are a lot of good athletes from West Michigan."
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