Born in 2002 to mother Anne Nizzi-Clark and father Brent Clark — who was a basketball player himself at Simpson College in the ’80s — Caitlin Clark grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. When she first picked up basketball at the age of 5, there were no girls’ teams she could join at her advanced level. Her parents instead enrolled her in boys’ teams until she was in the sixth grade. This move ultimately helped shape her on-court mannerisms, as her father told Fox. When asked what qualities have remained in Caitlin’s playing from this time, Brent replied, “I would say just the competitiveness, the assertiveness, she’s very creative, had to be at a young age.”
Caitlin has kept in touch with her male teammates, some of whom have admitted to her that she was still the better player, as she shared in an interview with ESPN. The basketball star explained to the outlet that her confidence on the court was also nurtured at home by her two brothers, Blake and Colin Clark, both of whom have played college football and high school basketball respectively.
Having this male energy around her was in no way disheartening. “I was always around, you know, boys that pushed me and wanted to play sports, and, yeah, I think it was super special in my development,” Caitlin reflected. “It was never something that ever fazed me. It was just like, you know, I’m a girl, I can hold my own.
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