Watching her older sister play softball, Ixayana Vera (12) started playing at a young age and grew to fall in love with the sport. 

After thriving in Irvington and club softball, where Vera was a utility player and had the highest batting average in her sophomore and junior years, she went to the tryouts in Los Angeles for the Mexico National Women’s Team. Although she didn’t fare as well as she’d liked initially, her hard work and dedication paid off when she shocked the coaches and was invited to play along with the team in Dallas.

The transition from high school softball to World Cup softball was intense: Ixayana had to train every day, and apart from practicing skills necessary for her achievement in softball, she had to build up her mental stamina. The culture shock of tougher competition was eased with the bonding and memories she made with her teammates.

“We would have a lot of team meetings, a lot of team bonding, which brought us closer together. I feel like we had very positive self-talk with each other, which was very important.”

During the day of the tournament, Vera and her team performed well, getting third place and securing their spot in the finals in the upcoming year.

“The whole experience was a memory, but my favorite overall was the team bonding because I got to meet the girls and get to know them better. And also getting my first hit on national live TV was a core memory.”