January is a cold month. It’s not quite summertime yet. Heck, it’s not even spring. But softball season doesn’t end for Brianna Alvarez.
The local eighth grader plays year round—or at least stays sharp year round.
“For softball, I practice every Sunday for two hours, and we have batting once a week,” she said. “I’ve played all-stars for three years, and now I’m on an A-ball team, which is like the best of the best.”
No surprise there: The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.
Alvarez is a gamer. Though softball is her main focus, she dabbles in other sports as well. She currently plays basketball for Orcutt Junior High, and she has no problem adhering to the requirements of both sports.
“Sometimes it’s just tiring after practice, and then you have to go to the next practice,” she admitted.
In the future, the talented first baseman hopes to play at the college level for an elite softball program like Arizona State, though her father hopes she’ll stay in state and play for the 11-time National Champion UCLA Bruins.
As a UCLA alumnus, this writer has got to say that father knows best.
This article appears in Jan 6-13, 2011.