THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610090135
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 96 lines
At 16, she's a little younger than most of Western Branch High School's senior class.
But she can stuff a volleyball back over the net better than most. And heave a shotput farther than most toss a paper airplane. And rebounding? That's her specialty.
Granted, she's tall - close to 5-11 - but seated on her living room couch in her Sunday best, Tiffani-dawn Sykes looks less like a high school athlete who has college scouts drooling on their clipboards and more like anybody's daughter.
But she isn't.
Her mom, 42-year-old Sandy B. Hutchinson, teaches at her high school and preaches every Sunday at the Portsmouth church they attend.
They are close.
``Even if I was in a toenail-clipping contest,'' said Sykes, ``she'd be there making sure I was the best toenail clipper there was.''
Such support means Hutchinson has watched her daughter compete in three sports - basketball, volleyball and track and field. Colleges have come calling because of Sykes' athletic prowess, despite her relative youth.
Hutchinson had a different direction in mind for her daughter when Tiffani-dawn was a little girl. It was a direction that had about as much to do with sports as pirouetting does to developing a solid jumper.
Sandy Hutchinson has always loved the performing arts, especially dance. She pictured her daughter following in her footsteps.
But as a young girl, Sykes towered over other students, even though she was sharp enough to skip the first grade. Sykes was awkward. She didn't seem to fit in.
``She took a lot of ribbing and jeering because of her height,'' her mother said. Hutchinson hoped dance classes would help.
``I kind of always thought she'd be in pageants,'' said Hutchinson, a former Washington Redskins cheerleader, of the daughter who shares her handsome dark eyes and long hair.
Hutchinson got her daughter started in the world of beauty contests.
Hanging near several trophies and portraits in the family's den, a snapshot shows a young Tiffani-dawn Sykes and two other girls decked out in pageant gowns. Though the other girls were years older, Tiffani-dawn had them beat in the height department.
Sykes' niche was not to be found in a beauty pageant.
``She had other ideas,'' said Hutchinson.
Sykes had an interest for sports. Her father, Randolph Sykes, now a school administrator in Deep Creek, was a star basketball player at Norfolk State. Tiffani-dawn wanted to play basketball, too. Hutchinson realized that her daughter would never be a prima ballerina. She agreed to let her daughter try hoops.
In her first game six years ago, Sykes' notable numbers didn't represent points scored or rebounds pulled down.
``I might have fallen 10 times and gotten 10 bruises,'' remembered Sykes.
Mom watched from the stands as her daughter spent more time on the court than the ball.
``I felt so sad for her because she was so awkward,'' said Hutchinson. ``But I could see she wanted to play basketball so badly. I could see it in her face.''
Each time she fell, Tiffani-dawn picked herself up.
Sykes said, ``When I was standing up, I looked normal. I looked like an athlete.''
After that first season, everybody wanted her on their team.
``But nobody,'' she said, ``wanted me to be in their dance recital.''
In the six years since that game, Sykes has developed into one of the area's top defensive players in basketball. She can shoot, too. She is also a real threat at the net in volleyball, a sport she took up a year after hoops.
After rebounding from knee surgery last year, Sykes is ready for her senior year. She has a mild case of nerves when it comes to college ball, especially because she is younger than nearly all of the people she will play against.
Noting the year of school she skipped, she admitted, ``I could use the extra year's experience.''
Physically, however, she feels ready.
And Sykes has not abandoned the arts. She sings and can find her way around a piano keyboard ``on a good day.'' She wants to study communications at whatever college she attends.
``I'd like to take (sportscaster) Dick Vitale's job,'' said Sykes.
At present, Hampton University and North Carolina A&T lead all contenders pending final scholarship offers, which should arrive before Christmas. Athletic ability is the tool that is helping Tiffani-dawn Sykes build a future.
Now, a basketball camp evaluation of ``good attitude'' holds as much importance to Sykes' mother as the title Miss Congeniality ever could have.
Her mother saw it coming.
``I knew it that same day I was so sad,'' said Hutchinson.
When Tiffani-dawn came off the court after that first game, the then-fledgling ball player wasn't dejected by an afternoon of stumbles. She had found her niche.
``She believed that she was going to get better,'' her mother said. ``She couldn't wait for that next game.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Senior Tiffani-dawn Sykes competes in three sports at Western
Branch.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB