She had won it all, her last binationals, and she was finally champion, but not only that, she was the best player in the whole tournament. But only she knew all the work she put into becoming the best, all the people she had to hear telling here she wouldn’t make it. But she was finally at the top, everyone was looking up at her but it certainly wasn’t an easy journey. All her close friends and coaches knew that only she, Isabela Murillo, was able to overcome all odds and become the best and prove everyone wrong.

Isabela Murillo is a 12-grade student at TCS, she is considered the best player of the school but it wasn’t an easy journey. It all started in 2013 when she decided to enter the school’s basketball team for the first time. From that moment on she knew she wanted someday to become the best but do so, she had to put in many hours of discipline and a mindset of never giving up to never forget her dream.

 Importance of sports in girls

Many people think that sports even though helps you get into better health and physical form, it takes a lot of time from them, not leaving them enough time to study. But new researchers have found this to be false and have a total different effect.

“Research shows that girls who play sports do better in school and are more likely to graduate than those who don’t. Exercise improves learning, memory, and concentration, which can give active girls an advantage when it comes to the classroom,” Sarah R. Gibson, Division of Physical Medicine & Rehab, Department of Orthopedics, said.

As for Isabela Murillo, her teammates have seen the difference of how she has improved. Some of them have seen her whole process and have been a witness of her change for the best.

“ During all these years playing together she has grown a lot because, at the beginning, I think she enters the team because she only wanted to play a sport. In the beginning, I can say that she wasn’t such a good player as she has grown to know, not only in the athletic appearance but also in the academical and personal aspects,” Maria Jose Puerta, 11th-grade student and teammate of Murillo at TCS, said.

New Coach, new player

For many athletes, changing coach isn’t the best thing because new tactics and new ideas come into the team, but for Murillo, it was the complete opposite. She took this opportunity and took advantage of this new opportunity.

“My skills have improved because of my coach because he has pushed me through boundaries that I thought I could never reach. Also, I have been really consisted of training because I think it is really important and I  really want to improve so I think that because of consistency I started to become better. I needed to put in desire.” Isabela Murillo, 12 grade and captain of the girl’s basketball team at TCS, said.

When she started with this new coach, she was just in 9th grade and had many things to improve but step by step, her and her coach improved making her a better player each day.

“ My technique for the shooting was my weakest skill because, since I started playing basketball, you had a specific shooting style, but then when I came to this new coach he told me that I was shooting wrong, so I needed to fix it, to shoot better,” Murillo said.

Her effect on other people

After many days or hard work and hard training, Murillo was at almost her best, giving younger girls a reason to look up to her.

“She is a great basketball player not only because she has talent but because she has a strong mindset and sets goals that she will need to work hard to get it,” Tomas Moreno, a 12-grade student at TCS, said.

She has become a great influence to other athletes and when asked if this was the end of her basketball career she gave an answer that shows that if you really love something you will do anything to achieve it.

“Basketball is my hobby and without basketball, my life would not be complete so I think I will still practice basketball even if it is in my house with a hoop but if I have the opportunity to play with a team in my college I will take it,” Murillo said.