INTERVIEW

Bolting to the Top

LISA RYAN (Co-host of The 700 Club): We mentioned earlier that you came from a family of 20 children. Was it a natural to go into team sports then?

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Oh, yeah, definitely. Basketball, football -- we had to play a sport that at least 10 could play.

LISA RYAN: You had a whole team.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Exactly.

LISA RYAN: As a family, was there a lot of activity, always something going on?

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: We had like a camp outside, different sports going on, because I have 90 nieces and nephews. It was constantly people always around, and we had to keep something going all the time outside. My dad owned about seven acres, so we had a lot of field to play with.

LISA RYAN: So life was one big sports camp for you.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Exactly.

LISA RYAN: Your dad was also a pastor. You're a PK, a preacher's kid. He pastored as many as --What?-- five churches at a time?

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Five churches in 45 years. He said he traveled a lot, but apparently with 20 kids, he was home quite a bit.

LISA RYAN: He was home enough.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Yes, enough.

LISA RYAN: You grew up with the faith that your father and mother passed down to you.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Yes, definitely. Growing up in a Christian family, a Christian home, [there were] times when growing up we were made to go to church, times when you didn't want to, but the way he taught us really paid off in the long run. Going to college and going abroad and having to make decisions, I'm glad that he instilled in me what he did.

LISA RYAN: While you were playing basketball in Europe, you didn't have a chance to go to church very much, so he and -- how many brothers are ministers as well?

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Seven of my brothers are ministers.

LISA RYAN: What a heritage. So they would send you tapes from all their sermons to listen to?

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Yes. That pulled me through because I didn't get to go to church, and so I would get up and watch videotapes of my father and brothers.

LISA RYAN: Now did you always dream of growing up to play basketball? Was that a childhood dream of yours?

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: My dream was really to be better tomorrow than I am today and trying to be the best I can be. Growing up in a family and my sister older than me, Mayola, her dream was to play in the Olympics and to pursue a career in basketball. And I was just so competitive. I was a tomboy. I was just trying to enjoy every moment and it just happened. I think God blessed me with the opportunity to make it to the Olympics.

LISA RYAN: The WNBA was formed in 1997 and has been gaining a lot of momentum. We've seen it grow in this country. You're a part of the Sacramento Monarchs as well. Tell me about the women's basketball organization in this country.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Women's basketball is really growing. In '95 and '96 when we were together for a whole year, we really put women's basketball on the map. And to go 60-and-0 and to win the gold medal in the style that we won it, we sort of put women on the map, and so now we get the respect from the audience that our fans are really embracing women's basketball and it's growing every year.

LISA RYAN: Needless to say, all of us watched you in this last Olympics where you got that lovely medal that's hanging around your neck. Tell me about the Sydney Olympics and what that experience was like.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: It was so awesome. To have an opportunity just to go to the Olympics is great, but to go there and win a gold medal, to be amongst the world's best athletes in their sports and to be around 10,000 athletes, the best in the world, and to win a gold medal, words just can't describe the feeling to win the ultimate in basketball. I just feel honored and blessed to really have that opportunity to make it to the Olympics.

LISA RYAN: Between the '96 and the 2000 Olympics you incurred an injury in '98 that really stood the chance of stopping your basketball career, your professional career. How did you face that? How did you get through it? You obviously came back from it.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: It was definitely tough. And a lot of it was tough because at 31, at that age in my career, the ACL injury is a tough injury and I didn't know if I could come back. I had to really practice what I preached and that was the PMA, having a positive mental attitude. I had to work hard. You know, I said, 'God, what is it you want me to learn from this experience? Teach me, show me.' And He did. He said, 'You're going to get back on the court and play because it's not time for you to stop playing yet.'

LISA RYAN: I read in some of your information that you didn't feel like your destiny was necessarily playing basketball or winning certain gold medals or whatever, but that your destiny was in pursuing the gifts that God had given you on a daily basis.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Definitely. I've been a lot of places with basketball, but I know that basketball is just a vehicle for me to get where I need to get and to do what I need to do for God, because it's given me the opportunity to speak to a lot of kids and to share my testimony. That inspired me more than actually playing the game. The game has given me an opportunity to reach out to people.

LISA RYAN: When does the new season start for you again?

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: We don't start until May of next year.

LISA RYAN: Well, we are so excited to have you here with us and to hear your testimony, as well.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Thank you.

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