Former Lady Vol player, survivor also guest at 'Scoring for Children'
When basketball season is over, Lady Vols head coach Pat Summitt will reunite with a former player for a much more serious game - the battle against child abuse.
Summitt will be keynote speaker at an April 14 fund-raising dinner and auction to benefit the Child Advocacy Center of the 9th Judicial District.
Special guest will be Becky Clark, who made the 1979-80 Lady Vols team as a walk-on, despite a serious hearing impairment and the secret burden of being a child abuse victim.
CAC supporters describe Clark's story of extensive abuse at the hands of an alcoholic stepfather, her survival and ultimate success in life as inspirational. Summitt calls it "heart wrenching."
"Scoring For Children - An Evening With Pat Summitt" is the theme for the $100-per-person fund-raiser to help the Child Advocacy Center reach a goal of $100,000 for a permanent facility. The center serves Loudon, Roane, Morgan and Meigs counties.
Clark, 45, has a doctorate in psychology. She counsels other abuse victims through her therapy practice in New York City and as clinical director for a social service agency in New Jersey.
"This is about giving children who are abused a safe place to disclose their 'secret' along with medical, mental health and legal services," Clark said. "CAC provides these services all in one place, to minimize (repeatedly) traumatizing the child. What makes CAC so unique and effective is the multiple services they provide and coordinate with doctors, forensic interviewers, therapists, law enforcement and the justice system."
She said it is also about helping break the most powerful weapon that abusers have - secrecy. "Take away the secret, so goes the power," Clark said.
As a child, Clark was beaten so badly that she permanently lost 80 percent of her hearing and suffered some vision problems that continue today. And she believes the abuse her twin brother suffered caused him to kill himself.
"He pulled the trigger, but in my heart I know the abuse was the bullet that took his life," she said.
For years, Clark kept the physical, sexual and emotional abuse she suffered a secret from everyone - including Summitt.
"She is one very strong woman," Summitt said of Clark. "There's a lot of toughness there. She has come through a lot. It is just amazing."
Clark was a reserve player on a Lady Vol team that included Holly Warlick, Jill Rankin, Cindy Noble, Debby Groover and Lea Henry. The team went 33-5 and finished second nationally. Clark played in 10 games.
"I told everyone I was born with the (hearing) problem," Clark said. "I was trying to hide my secret and the shame of it all."
Just as in high school, she said, "I didn't want to be different from the other kids."
"She did a great job," Summitt said of Clark's determination to make the team despite her impairment. "And I had no idea of what all else she was going through."
Clark left UT after one year and returned to Memphis to care for an ailing grandmother. She gave up basketball but remained an athlete. In 2001, she ran the New York City marathon on behalf of abused children. In 2002, she was a torchbearer for the Winter Olympics. She is donating her torch to be auctioned at the fund-raiser.
Only after years of therapy did Clark feel comfortable telling her story to others. And Summitt was one of the first people she told.
In a book store in 1998, Clark said, "I got the feeling that somebody was staring at me." She whirled around to see the image of her former coach - on the cover of the book "Reach for the Summitt."
Clark sent Summitt a 13-page handwritten letter. "I spilled my heart to her," said Clark. "I told her how I felt I had let her and the team down, that I was afraid they thought my attitude was that basketball was not important to me, about how it took therapy to help me face up to everything."
Clark said she also told Summitt how her one year as a Lady Vol helped her cope, and eventually to heal. "I took to heart the lessons she had taught us, about facing adversity and going beyond what we thought we possibly can."
"It was heart wrenching to read her letter," Summitt said.
Clark said Summitt's answer was very compassionate and understanding. "What really touched me was the last line of her card. She said, 'Keep the Lady Vol tradition going.' I felt welcomed back into the fold. I will always be a Lady Vol at heart. Once a Lady Vol, always a Lady Vol."
The fund-raiser begins at 6 p.m. at Rothchild Catering and Conference Center. Deadline for required reservations is April 12. Besides individual tickets, groups of eight may reserve a table, and corporate sponsorships are available. For reservations, visit www.caceasttn.org or call the CAC at 865-986-1505.
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