Cathy Sturm-Logsdon grew up outside of Chicago in the town of Park Ridge. She was most often with the other neighborhood kids riding bikes and playing softball. She was very competitive and a good athlete. No one noticed she had one hand. She wouldn’t let them.
“My arm comes down to about three inches, four inches after my elbow on my right side,” she said.
Sturm-Logsdon grew up with 4 brothers and an older sister, which kept her active and busy. Her younger brother was very athletic, and their relationship was competitive. She credits her family with enabling her to stay positive and never let her disability hinder her.
“It was all the pickup stuff the kids don’t have nowadays. So they all let me play. And you know what? No one ever judged me. And for me, my thought was, I don’t care if I have one hand. I’m still going to beat you. I still am a very competitive person,” she said.
Her hand never phased her. However, she recalled trying out for the high school tennis team and was, to her surprise, cut. The coach thought she couldn’t serve. She showed her she could but didn’t make the team. She saw situations like that as a challenge and looked immediately to other sports or opportunities.
“I was like, okay, now I’m digging in my heels. So then I tried out for basketball, and then it was badminton, and then softball. I got all those sports, and I was a fast pitcher. People were amazed at how quickly I got the mitt off to pitch. It was just a natural motion. I could get on and off my glove easily,” she said.
Sturm-Logsdon attended the University of Illinois and focused on school, choosing not to pursue softball due to the time commitment. She still loved recreational sports, and her sorority was heavily involved. She occasionally had to let the coaches know that she was no different than the rest of them, recalling going out for football with her sorority. The coaches looked her over and asked what do you want to do? They were puzzled when Sturm-Logsdon said wide receiver.
“They put me at wide receiver, and then they just shut up. Between catching and the smarts needed when running after a catch, I knew what to do. I was not necessarily so much better than some of the girls. I just knew more from playing with boys all the time growing up. I knew the game better. I knew angles and when to cut, stop and go the other way,” she said.
She continued with badminton and fell in love with table tennis and racquetball in college. After college, she went into social work which she enjoyed, and focused on her family. Once she retired, she recalled a friend telling her about pickleball.
“About five years ago, one of my good girlfriends, Karen, said I know you’ll love pickleball. And I go, yeah, I can’t, my knee. I had bad knees, so I finally got my knee replaced,” she said.
Sturm-Logsdon had a total knee replacement and knew she wanted to work on being active. Golf was a complete failure for her, but she still had those constant invites from her friend for pickleball. So two years after her friend had mentioned pickleball to her, she finally took her up on it.
“So she took me out there, and from there on, I was going three to five times a week,” she said.
Her background in table tennis, badminton, and racquetball aided her in picking up the game quickly. She was immediately an angle player, trying to place things perfectly and studying shots.
“I think that’s ping pong. I’m always looking at the angles of the ball and doing cross-corner shots. I’m like, that’s my ping pong,” she said.
She can cradle the ball near the elbow and drop it when serving. She defines her only weakness in pickleball as her desire to do two-hand backhands. The competitive side of Sturm-Logsdon was once again fulfilled, and she soon found her favorite part of the game.
“Oh, there are tournaments. I was so excited. I worked towards that. I have done two tournaments. I played in Chicago. In the first tournament we got a bronze. And that wasn’t a level tournament. That was more of an age thing. Then I played in the Chicago Open, and we got bronze in that, too. I’m still excited about that,” she said.
She finds pickleball fulfilling and fun. Sports always were natural to her and never an obstacle. She loves that the men and women all play together and that there is no judgment on the court. She describes her hand as something forgotten in a couple of minutes. And she likes it that way.
“Absolutely. That’s me. Don’t ever treat me differently. And if you do, I will work harder to beat you,” she said.
Sturm-Logsdon has held true to that promise of working harder. She plays often and drills consistently, and she and a friend won gold at the 2023 Minto US Open Pickleball Championships in Naples. She looks forward to the future.
