Sports News-Feature: Her First Triumph in Her Second Love

12/07/2019 07:55:00 PM Media Center 0 Comments

After six years of being a setter and spiker, Alyssa Avila finally won her first gold medal… as a thrower.

As a rookie in the Track and Field (TNF) team, Avila bagged a gold in shotput and scored a silver in discus in the 3-day division meet held at Rizal High School, Pasig on November 12-14.

TNF is now her newfound success, her new found love.

Not so long ago, Avila was a volleyball player who would bring her a-game in each match. Even before becoming a member of the UPIS Girls’ Volleyball Team, she already had a good had a good headstart to becoming a rising volleyball star.

She was only 9 years old when she fell in love with volleyball. After successfully landing at 2nd runner up at the NCR Lower Meet 2 Championship and the Milo National Championships from 2014 to 2015, her mother encouraged her to join the try-outs for the UPIS Girls’ Volleyball Team. During the summer of 2015, she finally got the go-signal to transfer from Concepcion Elementary Highschool to UPIS.

Just like how most newly transferred freshmen would feel, Avila was culture-shocked during her first few weeks as an iska. She had to wake up earlier in the morning to go to a new campus and stay even later at the gym for training with her new team, while still finding time to finish all her homework. Of course, she didn’t forget the role of being a student-athlete in UPIS who needed to uphold honor and excellence in both sports and academics.

For three years, Avila trained hard, obeyed every rule their volleyball coach gave, and made the most out of every chance she had on the court to help the team rise from their standing. However, those three years also made her realize that one’s first love won’t always be her last. At 10th grade, she decided to become part of the UPIS TNF family instead, leaving behind the sport she first fell in love with.

Since then, she would spend her hours after class training in the quadrangle instead of the gym. It’s only been nine months since she started her TNF journey so she said that the division meet last month was definitely a nerve-racking experience. But that didn’t stop her from doing her best.

Avila’s first TNF competition was like her first day of high school all over again: driving to a new city, playing for a new team, encountering new faces, and setting a new goal, but this time for a completely different sport. She knew that her goal for those three days was to focus on one thing only: to make her mga ka-iskolar ng bayan proud— and that’s exactly what she did.

She said that her victory in the division meet also helped her become more motivated to succeed as an athlete.

“Nagkaroon ako ng drive magrepresent ng school kasi ‘yung support ng teammates from track ay sobra-sobra and here nakakapag-experimento ako ng mga styles how to throw. Dati kasi mahirap dahil although may support ka from teammates depende pa rin sa coach kung ipapasok ka sa court so hindi ko magawa yung gusto kong gawin to improve myself during the game.”

Only one month remains for the UPIS TNF before the start of their tournament at UAAP Season 82. If Avila continues to train hard and give her all in each throw, it won’t be a surprise to see a sea of maroon cheering for her as she wears a gold medal for TNF, her second love. //by Magan Basilio