UTEP Assistant Soccer Coach Kate Ward has been nominated as a finalist for Best Athlete with a Disability in women’s sports. Also nominated for the Best Athlete with a Disability award are cross-country skier, cyclist and biathlete Oksana Masters, swimmer Jessica Long, and snowboarder Brenna Huckaby at this year’s ESPY’s hosted by Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry.
Ward is from Atlanta, Georgia and has been playing soccer since she was 6 years old, which was around the same age she became fully deaf. The first time Ward and her family found out she was deaf was when she was 3 years old after the doctors told them she was deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other ear.