‘She never gives up.’ One prosthetic limb, no limits for Nicholas County 4-sport athlete.
Nicholas County’s girls basketball team doesn’t have to look far for an example of the toughness they’ve displayed this season.
She wears No. 35.
That’s because in addition to donning the Lady Jackets’ blue and white, senior Katie Switzer also straps on a prosthetic limb below her right knee — and not just in basketball. Switzer played varsity golf and volleyball last fall and will hit the tennis courts this spring.
“She’s an inspiration to all of us,” said Nicholas County coach Greg Letcher, who brought the Lady Jackets (14-6) to the girls All “A” Classic at The Corbin Arena last week for the sixth time in program history and the first time since 2018. “She started playing in middle school and just to see how much she’s grown from the time she started playing to now, it’s just amazing.”
Switzer credits growing up in a competitive family for her love of basketball and other sports.
Her cousin, Maggie Simons, has developed into a big-time scorer for Nicholas County who averages more than 24 points per game, which ranks her among the top scorers in the state. Simons made a 3-pointer for the first bucket of their 48-30 win over Menifee County on Wednesday to score the 1,000th point of her career.
“I just really love to compete. I always have,” Switzer said. “I grew up with a really competitive family. If you haven’t noticed, my cousin, who’s a freshman, is amazing. ... They all played multiple sports as well. It’s not just me.”
That competitiveness shows in how hard Switzer plays. She’s gone through three sport blade prosthetics since last April. The last fractured in the first half of Nicholas County’s 10th Region All “A” Classic championship game at home against Bracken County on Jan. 19. The Jackets won 71-67 in overtime.
Two Jackets fouled out in that game and another injured her ankle in the fourth quarter, so Switzer and her duct-tape mended prosthetic saw the court a lot more than normal in Nicholas County’s biggest game of the season.
“It was a team effort and a great, great atmosphere at our place and a great championship game,” Letcher said. “Katie and a couple other girls that really hadn’t seen that many minutes through the course of the year played big roles in us winning it. I’m just proud of that aspect.”
Nicholas County followed up Wednesday’s win over Menifee with a 66-38 victory against Walton-Verona on Friday in the Classic’s quarterfinals. Simons led the Jackets with 25 points, Nevaeh Carter had 16 and Tessa Humphries chipped in 15.
The Jackets’ most successful All “A” Classic run under Letcher ended Saturday in a 67-30 loss to No. 8 Covington Holy Cross, the repeat champions. They were the only unranked team in this year’s semifinals. Nicholas County won the All “A” in 1993.
‘She’s just got grit’
Glenn and Amy Switzer didn’t know what to expect when they flew to China more than a decade ago to adopt a 4-year-old girl they had been told did not have a right foot because of a congenital problem.
It didn’t take long for the Switzers to find out how determined that little girl with a plaster prosthetic limb could be.
“She’s just got grit,” Amy Switzer said. “I knew it from the time we brought her home.”
Playing outside with her new older brothers Wilson and Brady, Katie revealed something else.
“I thought I was getting a girl, and she was going to be a cheerleader,” Amy Switzer said. “When I saw her throw a ball with her brothers for the first time, I figured out that she was pretty athletic.”
The biggest struggle through the years was finding a prosthetic device that could withstand the demands Katie put on it. She started with a typical plastic and wooden prosthetic. But as someone who tried every sport under the sun, including gymnastics, softball and cross country for a time, she needed a better solution.
Three years ago, the Switzers discovered Amputee Blade Runners, a charitable organization based in Nashville, Tennessee, that provides sport blade prosthetics for all ages.
“That has been a game-changer for Katie,” Amy Switzer said. “I think, 1,000 percent, she’s been able to be more competitive, which is what she wants to be.”
Katie also suffers from an accessory navicular bone in her left foot, a condition that might go unnoticed in many people, but for an athlete can cause pain and injury.
“So, she’s in pain most of the time she is playing,” Amy Switzer said. “Last year in the regional tennis tournament, she was in pretty bad shape. I really wanted to take a timeout, but she gave me ‘the hand.’ She said, ‘No, Mom, I’m fine.’”
More than sports
Switzer excels in the classroom as well, which helped earn her Governor’s Scholar honors last summer. She serves as the state president of Kentucky’s Future Business Leaders of America and, as a sophomore, she was recognized as a sectional winner of the National High School Spirit of Sport Award. She’s a past member of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s Student Advisory Council.
“If you ask 100 people how great Katie is, 101 people will tell you how great Katie is,” said Kim Simons, a proud aunt and Maggie’s mother.
Switzer plans to attend Western Kentucky University and major in exercise science with a goal of eventually getting a master’s degree in orthotics and helping develop the prosthetics of the future.
“I have had these ambitions probably since I was in third grade,” Switzer said. “I want to become a prosthetist, someone who makes prosthetics, because I have personal experiences.”
Tennis and basketball put unusual stress on her blades, a big factor in why they fail, but Switzer has learned to take the breaks in stride, fix them as she goes and, now, after Bracken County, bring a spare.
“She does not ever want attention for being as phenomenal as she is,” Amy Switzer said. “She just wants to be with her girls and do everything they do. She never gives up.”
A special senior year
Nicholas County’s run to the statewide All “A” Classic this season is the culmination of her team’s hard work, Katie Switzer said.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment because we’ve always had potential,” she said. “And especially just to be able to do it with my cousin is amazing. I have so many friends on this basketball team, and we’ve been through all of it together.”
Regardless of how much she wants to win, Switzer values sports for the friends she’s made and the lessons she’s learned. And while her mother said she would never “toot her own horn,” Switzer knows she can help others by her example.
“I don’t even have to play. Don’t get me wrong, I love to play, but also just love supporting my teammates and just being there for them and uplifting them when they’re feeling down,” Katie Switzer said. “All the sports I’ve played have completely broadened my view on things, and it’s made me who I am today because I have made so many friendships from the sports that I play and the clubs I join. It’s not just about playing time. … It’s about people, too.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2024 at 9:01 AM.
