WILL TO WIN.These five athletes are striving to be supreme outside the mainstream The fame may not be the same, but the rewards of nontraditional sports can be even greater than those of traditional sports. From surfers to wranglers, alternative athletes are excelling in events that their peers on the football or basketball teams may not quite understand. Yet they're putting in the time, setting goals, and blazing trails in ways they couldn't have done had they stuck to baseball bats and wrestling mats Noun 1. wrestling mat - a mat on which wrestling matches are conducted gym mat, mat - sports equipment consisting of a piece of thick padding on the floor for gymnastic sports . Here, in their words, is what it takes to be a different kind of champion. Soul Surfing JOEL CENTEIO, 18 KAPOLEI, HAWAII 2000 INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL SURFING CHAMPION I was really into baseball when I was younger. I was in tee-ball and Little League, but I'd always surf after the games. I did my first surfing competition when I was 9. Then once I got a few sponsors in surfing, I was like, "This is great," and I stopped playing baseball. It's just such a good feeling when you drop down into a wave and you get a tube as the wave comes over you. The water just starts roaring. In a fast wave, you could go for a long time, about five seconds. You can see the hole of sunlight at the end, and you just try to hold tight and ride it out. If you don't make it, you get pounded, and you could hit the reef. When I was a freshman, we started a surf team on our own, including six shortboarders and one longboarder. Our school didn't want to be held responsible if we were injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. , so we weren't an official team. We went to the 2000 national high school contest in California and challenged sanctioned school teams. We placed third, and I won the individual competition. Still, our school's quarterback might be more popular than I am. Surfing is big in Hawaii, but there's always the core of football, baseball, and basketball. After I graduate, I'm going to turn pro and travel to contests around the world. I can't really see myself doing anything else but being in the ocean. Kicking Back MELANIE BAUTISTA, 14 DAYTON, OHIO ONE GOLD MEDAL, FOUR SILVERS AT 2000 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP My mom wanted me to be a ballerina, so I was in ballet. When I was 7, I took karate karate: see martial arts. karate Martial art in which an attacker is disabled by crippling kicks and punches. Emphasis is on concentration of as much of the body's power as possible at the point and instant of impact. and I liked it a lot more. It definitely has more action. For karate, I have to work really hard getting in shape, keeping my mind focused, and concentrating all the time. There are always new strategies, new ways to win. When I compete, I put all my heart into it and all my strength. I try not to think about being afraid, though I do think about being nervous. I just don't want negative thoughts. My biggest accomplishments so far have been getting my black belt (I'm now a second-degree), being champion in the past few nationals, and making it onto the U.S. team. I won five golds at the 1999 Junior Olympics. As much as I love karate though, there have been times when I wanted to quit. Once I was losing at a state championship. I kept on saying, "I can't do this." My dad was there as my coach. He said, "No, you shouldn't quit. There's no such thing as quitting." He was right by my side the whole time. My younger brother Wiki is aware of the following uses of "'Younger Brother":
n. Paralysis affecting one or more of the extrinsic eye muscles. , which paralyzes the muscles around the eyes], but he did his first karate nationals last year. He's really competitive. The thought of making it to the Olympics in 2004 in Athens, Greece, has kept me going. Many of my acquaintances don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. I do karate, but my best friends do. They say I'm going to take them to the Olympics. They're really excited for me and proud of me. Pistol Perfect LAUREN SANTIBANEZ, 19 SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA FOUR-TIME JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPION IN TARGET SHOOTING I'm kind of a klutz, so I never considered doing a regular sport. You don't really want to get me on a soccer field. I tried target shooting with my dad when I was 12, and I found a sport I could do standing still. A lot of classmates Classmates can refer to either:
Shooting is a mental sport. It is physical up to a certain point, but beyond that there's a lot of concentration. I have an advantage: I don't get nervous. You get tired mentally and physically of doing the same thing over and over to such a fine level. A flinch flinch intr.v. flinched, flinch·ing, flinch·es 1. To start or wince involuntarily, as from surprise or pain. 2. To recoil, as from something unpleasant or difficult; shrink. n. on my end can result in a pretty big mistake at the end of a 10- or 25-meter range. Being off the target by half an inch is a really bad shot. I missed qualifying for the 2000 Olympic team, and I'm in college now, so the competitions and traveling have slowed down. I've been on the national team for three years, and I'll still keep shooting for a long time. Fencing the Good Fight MARIEL ZAGUNIS, 16 BEAVERTON, OREGON 2000 WORLD CHAMPION IN WOMEN'S TEAM SABER I play soccer for my school, but I get recognized more for being a fencer. I'm at a higher level with it and it's an individual sport. People say, "Oh, she won junior nationals," instead of, "Oh, the girls' team won state." I got started in fencing because my older brother was trying it. I do the saber event, where you use slashing slash·ing adj. 1. Bitingly critical or satiric: slashing wit. 2. Dashing; pelting: a slashing hailstorm. 3. attacks to touch any part of the blade above your opponent's waist. It's physical and quick, a little like the Star Wars lightsaber battles--though we don't do somersaults. Technology has really kicked in for the sport. You wear a metal jacket and mask with a lot of wiring, almost like a robo-fencer. When you're hit, a machine lights up. Eventhough I wear a ton of padding Bits or characters that fill up unused portions of a data structure, such as a field, packet or frame. Typically, padding is done at the end of the structure to fill it up with data, with the padding usually consisting of 1 bits, blank characters or null characters. See null and bit stuffing. , hits hurt a lot and I get bruises Bruises Definition Bruises, or ecchymoses, are a discoloration and tenderness of the skin or mucous membranes due to the leakage of blood from an injured blood vessel into the tissues. Pupura refers to bruising as the result of a disease condition. . I get to travel with fencing. Once, I had a tournament in Italy one weekend and one the next weekend in Hungary, so we stayed overseas. When I came back, my history class was covering things I learned on the trip. My teacher was like, "Where did you learn that?" Some days I just go to school, soccer practice, fencing practice, home. I'm a sophomore now, and in my senior year I'm definitely not going to play soccer. That is going to be the year that I'll try to make the Olympic team. Fencing is just going to get harder because, as I go up levels, I'm going to be even more dedicated to it. The Cowboy Way RANDON ADAMS, 19 LOGANDALE, NEVADA 2000 NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL RODEO ALL-AROUND CHAMPION My parents, my four brothers, and even my sister are into rodeo. My dad started roping, and he helped me start. I was only 4 or 5 when I roped off a horse for the first time. We grew up in the Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. area, and I didn't have any friends who did rodeo. It's a miracle It's a Miracle was a television show that aired on PAX-TV (now Independent Television) between September 6, 1998 and September 1, 2004.[1] Initially hosted by Richard Thomas[2], and later by Roma Downey, [3] I'm as good as I am. My favorite My Favorite is an independent synthpop band from Long Island, New York. They released two CDs: Love at Absolute Zero and Happiest Days of Our Lives. My Favorite broke up on September 14, 2005, when singer Andrea Vaughn left the band. events are calf roping--where you lasso lasso (lăs`ō, lăs  `), light, strong rope, usually with a smooth, hard finish, made of a fine quality of hemp or nylon. the calf from a
horse, then tie it up--and team roping Team roping also known as heading and heeling is a rodeo event that features a steer (typically a Corriente) and two mounted cowboys. The steers are moved through narrow pathways leading to a chute with spring loaded doors. . I usually do team roping with my
little brother Jason. While on horseback on the back of a horse; mounted or riding on a horse or horses; in the saddle.See also: Horseback , he ropes a steer's horns and I try to rope its back legs. I also do steer wrestling, , where I jump off a horse to pin a steer. That and bull riding are kind of like regular wrestling, but I am not a bull rider--no, no, no, no. Even outside of bull riding, rodeo has its risks, just like every sport has its good and bad. At a rodeo in Colorado in 1995, I was roping a steer when I cut my thumb off. I didn't even feel it happen. I pulled off my glove and my right thumb was in my glove. I was rushed by air to Denver, with the thumb on ice. Fortunately, I had a really good doctor who saved it. I roped left-handed for a while. It didn't slow me down much. My thumb hurts now when it gets cold, and I don't have full movement in it, but I have quite a bit. I never thought about giving up rodeo, though. I just love it. My mom ran a rodeo team for my high school, and our principal really supported it. We didn't have pep rallies or things like that, though. After school, I'd usually go down to the ranch and rope and rope and rope some more. It's hard to practice when you're actually at rodeos There are literally thousands of Rodeos held worldwide each year. Some of the more notable or significant are listed below. Brazil São Paulo
AlbertaI'm looking at going to college this fall. I have six or seven scholarships right now, including one for winning the high school championship. Like other sports, you can actually get a full ride with rodeo. And in 5 or 10 years, I hope to be the world champion. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion