For over eight years, her love for softball has only grown stronger. From not knowing anything to becoming someone talented and dedicated to the sport. 

By Yesenia Rocha

SAN JOSE CALIF.- The love for softball has driven Andrea Alvarez to play softball since she was seven years old. Alvarez started off as someone who knew absolutely nothing about the sport, but a couple years later turned out to know a whole lot. Alvarez is a freshman here at Silver Creek High School who plays for a team outside of school and loves food. Other than softball her favorite things to do are working out, eating or just relaxing.  

When she was younger, her dad brought up the idea of playing the sport and asked her if she wanted to play it. Her choice was yes and little did she know that answer would change her life in an incredible way. The first thing she did to get started was to go to the field with her dad and practice with him first. Then eventually she got on her first team.

Joining a new sport can be really really difficult at first, but Alvarez was so determined to do better. Since she was about seven years old, she has been practicing almost everyday to become better and stronger. Alvarez loves this sport, saying “I love being able to travel to different states and compete against other teams. It’s fun being able to bond with my teammates wherever we go and softball really just is my happy place.” There are a lot of people who want to try out for softball but the thing holding them back is the fear of not being good enough. Some advice Alvarez had was, “Anyone should give it a try because it’s been a really good experience for me and I know others would feel the same way.”

Some of the struggles that Alvarez faces is not having a social life because she spends most of her time practicing or playing. Alvarez said that her weakness in softball is trying to remember all of her plays and her strength is throwing people out. Her proudest moment was making the diving catch to win the championship game, which was three weeks ago. After high school, Alvarez plans to play on a college team and then she will see what can happen from there.