From Neighborhood Team to National League

Ivon Cuervo and Astrid Zacipa - Posted on December 11, 2009

Lina has grown up living in poverty. In the beginning, the broomsticks and rubber balls were her only equipment to be able to practice the sport of softball in her neighborhood. Today, Lina, 16, and her teammates are a group of talented youth who have had the opportunity to play at national sporting events and an international championship.

A few months after Lina was enrolled in the sponsorship program, at age 6, her mother signed her up for the World Vision’s Sports School.

When she started, she had the opportunity to practice different kinds of sports: swimming, gymnastics, track and field, volleyball, basketball and softball.

“Softball, more than anything else, is a question of interest and willingness to practice. The team practices two hours a day, after school,” she says.

Alias, Lina’s little sister, also plays softball. Their dad goes to all of their practices with them. He likes to play baseball and for a while he was the assistant coach of his daughter’s team. “My dad tells my sister and me that we should never feel disappointed, that we are good players and that we can achieve greater things,” says Lina.

This experience has helped direct the path for Lina’s life. Now, not only does she want to continue playing softball, she is also preparing to study to be P.E. teacher.

She is a girl with big dreams. “I would like it if everyone would see how good of an athlete I am and I could travel to many different countries,” she says.

She is a little closer to achieving that goal every day. This year she had a really good showing in the national championship and they selected her to be part of the team that will represent Colombia in the School Sports Championship, playing against teams from other schools from Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico.

Additionally, Lina was also selected to play on the Colombian team that will play in the Under 17 Softball championship in Argentina.

Thanks to the constant opportunities to be able to be with many people, Lina has also been able to refine her character in this process. “I have a strong personality, but I have tried to learn and share with the other players and I am getting better,” she says.

“We work a lot with the girls in the area of values, like respect, responsibility, teamwork, discipline and tolerance,” says her coach.

This same drive that characterizes Lina, is what gives her strength to stretch her self and be able to achieve the goals she makes for herself.

Come back in a couple of months and see how Lina did in the championships and hear about her experiences of being able to meet people outside of Colombia .

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