Young Greenwood figure skater believes in God’s special plan for her

Katie Stamper, right, and her mother, Bernadette Reilly, share a moment of joy at the Pan American Plaza Skating Rink in Indianapolis. At 17, Katie is one of five Indiana athletes chosen to compete in the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games, an international competition featuring 3,000 athletes from 100 countries that will begin on Feb. 7 in Boise, Idaho. Katie views her participation as part of God’s plan for her. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)

By John Shaughnessy

During her early teenage years, Katie Stamper never thought about God having a plan for her life.

And if someone would have told her then that God’s plan for her would some day include putting on figure skates and competing in the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games, she would have most likely thought, “Me? Skating? On ice?! In a world competition?!! I don’t think so! You must have the wrong person in mind!”

Yet here she is at 17, and all those things have come true for Katie, a member of SS. Francis and Clare of Assisi Parish in Greenwood.

As she prepares for the world competition that begins on Feb. 7 in Boise, Idaho, Katie now believes that ice skating is part of the plan that God has for her, a plan that has already begun to change her life and the lives of others.

Yet it’s also a plan—similar to many of God’s plans for people—that initially challenged Katie to her core, and eventually placed her in a vulnerable position that asked her to risk far more than she ever had.

An amazing transformation

To start the story, return to 2006 when Katie was 15 and watching the Winter Olympics on television with her grandmother. There, on the screen, a female figure skater glided across the ice in a spectacular performance filled with jumps and spins that left Katie in awe. She turned to her grandmother and said, “I want to skate.”

It didn’t matter to Katie that she had never skated before. It didn’t matter to her that she had shown similar enthusiasm for other activities then lost interest in them. She just knew she wanted to try to skate—to look that graceful, to feel that sense of soaring. So her mother, Bernadette Reilly, who desperately wanted Katie to have something that would make her feel special, arranged for her daughter to take lessons.

And Katie not only loved skating, she was good at it.

“She’s a talented child and she picks up the stuff quickly,” said Elena Zaitsev, one of her coaches. “She’s the child who is fun to work with. She works hard.”

Katie’s mom marveled at the transformation in her daughter as she skated.

“Before she skated, she didn’t have an outlet for who she was,” Reilly said. “When she stepped on the ice, her soul came out. Everyone calls her ‘the butterfly.’ Her spirit is so light, so innocent and so beautiful. She’s phenomenally graceful on the ice.”

Tears began to flow from Reilly’s eyes as she talked about Katie.

“She always felt less than,” Reilly continued. “This has given her the opportunity to feel all the wonderful emotions a little girl deserves to feel.”

Yet in the midst of this breakthrough, Katie also learned something about herself that would lead her to one of the toughest decisions of her young life.

A life-changing choice

When Katie was in kindergarten, she was diagnosed as being mildly mentally challenged. Her mother didn’t tell Katie about the diagnosis until two years ago, shortly after she started skating.

“She’s very high functioning,” Reilly said.

Still, Katie’s disability has always made school challenging for her.

Another challenge arose for her last December. With her diagnosis, Katie was eligible for the Special Olympics sports program. With her talent in skating, she had qualified for the 2009 World Winter Games, where she will be one of five Indiana athletes at the competition that will involve 3,000 athletes from 100 countries.

Katie’s selection put her at a crossroads.

If she chose to participate in the Special Olympics event, she knew the news would spread to her friends and classmates at Center Grove High School in Greenwood that she is mildly mentally challenged.

Like most teenagers who don’t want to draw attention to themselves, Katie struggled with what she should do. The struggle continued for her even as she reluctantly attended a training camp in Colorado in December to prepare for the games.

“When I got there, I met some girls who are doing figure skating, too,” Katie said. “Me and this one girl became good friends. We talked about our disabilities. A girl with Down syndrome asked why I was there. I told her I was mildly mentally handicapped. I told her I almost didn’t come because I have one foot in the normal world and a foot in the special world. I didn’t want people to know I was special. She said she didn’t want to tell anyone, too.”

Katie’s perspective suddenly changed after that conversation. She realized that she wasn’t the only one struggling with her situation. She sent a text message to her mom saying, “I’m staying. These people need me.”

“Everyone was attached to me there,” Katie recalled. “God has a plan for me. I’m to speak for those who can’t.”

The mark of a champion

Katie’s goal is to win a gold medal at the World Winter Games. Many people who have observed her transformation and heard her story are already convinced that she is a champion.

In December, Katie was invited as a guest to a fundraising banquet for Special Olympics Indiana, a dinner that is part of a college basketball event that Indiana basketball legend John Wooden has established. Usually a quiet person, Katie was unexpectedly asked to speak to the large dinner audience. She did, and she received a standing ovation when she finished.

“I used not to talk and be shy,” Katie said. “Now I talk a lot. I speak up for myself.”

Sitting next to Katie as she expressed those words, her mother nodded as her eyes filled with tears, love and pride.

“It gives me hope that life will be good to her,” Katie’s mom said. “Before, life seemed pretty difficult and the options closed. This has given her the opportunity to see life can be good. This has begun to show her and me her measure of success in the world outside the classroom. This is about nourishing the whole person and giving the person the opportunity to find their success in life.”

Katie just calls it God’s plan for her. †