Ann Wauters remembers her feelings of insecurity while growing up in Sint-Gillis-Waas, Belgium.

“I was that girl who was way too tall and I didn’t have too much confidence,” the 6-foot-4 center recalls.

It wasn’t until a classmate suggested the shy preteen turn her height from an insecurity into an advantage by playing basketball that Wauters was able to truly be herself. The basketball court felt like home; it became a source of confidence.