This is Emma Meesseman #33

In Hearing Time:

Growing up in a small town outside Bruges, Belgium, near the North Sea, Emma Meesseman’s motivation was not to prove she could overcome a disability. Instead, it was the more common goal of living up to her mother’s reputation. She is the daughter of Sonja Tankrey, a center who was named the Belgian women’s player of the year in 1983.

“I play to be better [than] her,” Meesseman said with a smile. “And I am.”

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Figuring out what makes Emma Meesseman different than the rest of her Washington Mystics teammates isn’t always obvious. It’s only when Meesseman leans in and requests that a reporter ask a question louder or needs teammates to repeat a play call that the full scope of her story – and the hearing devices behind both of her ears – come into focus. Meesseman, 20, was born with only 50 percent hearing, a condition that was discovered more than 15 years ago when her parents in Belgium noticed that she didn’t speak like other children. “For me, it’s not special,” she says matter-of-factly. “It doesn’t stop me. I don’t know any different.”

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