LEIA BEATTIE

Team Fusion

El Paso Fusion helped signed Leia Beattie to the Montana State Bobcats. Coach Lee noticed Leia playing in a tournament and reached out to her with an offer to play for Team Fusion. She decided to join and later considered it the best decision that she has made in her basketball career. According to Leia, "he's [Lee] the ultimate recruiter and so good at getting everything set up."

Inside The Brick

Leia had a big first year as a Bobcat at Montana State in Bozman. She was ready and anxious for another season to show her teammates and fans what she could do. Check out the latest Inside The Brick session as Leia Beattie chats with Head Coach Tricia Binford».

Leia's stats and records..

General	Stat
HEIGHT:	5'9"
POSITION:	PG, SG
HIGH SCHOOL:	Midland Classical Academy
JERSEY:	-
NAT.RANK / TX RANK:	2,757 \| 262
MAJOR:	Accounting
GRADUATED:	2020
GPA:
HOMETOWN:	Midland, TX

Organizations she's played for..

Organizations	Team	Jersey	Sport	Years
MIDLAND CLASSICAL ACADEMY HI SCHOOL	Knights	-	Basketball	-
TEAM FUSION CLUB	Fusion	-	Basketball	-
MONTANA STATE	Bobcats	15	Basketball	-

Personal

Noted on the Montana State website, Leia is the daughter of Kelly and Ken Beattie. Her mother, Kelly, was a two-time All-Big Sky Conference selection for the Lady Grizzly and is listed sixth all-time in assists at UM. In addition, her 15 assists against Boise State and Northern Arizona still rank first in single-game history for the Lady Grizzly's. Beattie's aunt and coach at MCA, Carla (Beattie) Cunneen, is also a former Lady Griz standout. Cunneen was the 1996 Big Sky Sixth Player of the Year.

Interesting Facts

Most everyone develops dominance with either their right or left hand, and the vast majority of people fall under the right-handed category. Statistical research has shown that only about 11% of the world's population is left-handed, which makes it seem very unusual when you see a left-handed person writing with their left hand.

When a right-handed person witnesses someone writing with their left hand, it can seem like an awkward thing. Stranger yet is the sight of someone who feels very comfortable writing with either of their hands, and doing it with ease. For the select few of those who possess this unusual ability are known as being "ambidextrous." In fact, people who are thoroughly ambidextrous are extremely rare, and whether it's writing an essay or dribbling a basketball, they possess the skills to do both equally well with either hand they choose. Moreover, there is really no such thing as only being "slightly ambidextrous." People who are truly ambidextrous have a very rare skill to do all things equally well with either hand. It's a condition that only about 1% of the population possess.

As for Leia, she writes with her left hand but performs most everything else with her right hand. Ambidextrous? Well maybe, but she considers herself to be only "slightly ambidextrous." It's more likely that in Leia's case she has a common condition known as "cross-dominance." You can be mixed-handed (not slightly ambidextrous) by still having one more dominant hand. According to psychologist and author Charlotte Reznick, Ph.D.,

"Approximately 11% of the population is left-handed, while only 1% is truly ambidextrous."

You can be mixed-handed and "not" ambidextrous by still having both left and right dominant hands. This is where people have trained themselves to use their left and right hands both pretty well, as in the case of some athletes, but is not considered to be true ambidexterity. Rather, it's classified as "cross-dominance." Reznick further explains,.

"Many people who might outwardly appear ambidextrous may have developed using a non-dominant hand either because of injury, pressure, or [because] it seemed [like] a good way to get the advantage in sports."

But those who are thoroughly ambidextrous are those who don't have a dominant hand. They can use both easily, trading pens between left or right, and shooting an outside jumpshot with the left or right. Nonetheless, whether Leia's ambidextrous or not, she's an amazing athlete. And also an intelligent, hard-working student. She's destined for a bright future!

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