Interview with an Athlete

 

Day 1

 

As we went into our breakout room, I was met with a very familiar voice. It was Karla DeLa Cruz, one of my closest friends. As cameras were turned on, the led lights around her room quickly caught my attention. Since Karla and I knew eachother so well already, the interview started instantly with no hiccups. 

 

I started by addressing the elephant in the room and talking about quarantine.

 

“Do you feel as though the worst part about quarantine has been the lack of sports?”

 

“Yeah, yeah for sure” she instantly said followed by some elaboration. “When I was in sports, I was fit, because I was doing a lot of things, like I did volleyball one season, took a break then did softball right after that. So I was always fit, I was never slacking, I was always doing something; I was always busy with my day. But after the virus I was just home and not exercising and I probably gained like 20 pounds.”

 

“Yeah I can imagine that being tough for someone used to being active all the time” I said. I decided to ask her about her influences.

 

“Do you feel that specifically your hispanic culture, or your parents culture has  influenced your athletic Culture?”

 

“In a way because, I mean I play volleyball and softball. Softball and baseball go hand in hand and that’s a Dominican sport and that’s what I grew up around  because my brother went throught it[Baseball] from a young age and I would have to be with him wherever he goes. Like I would skip school, I would skip summer camp, programs just to be at his tournaments and stuff. And that eventually influenced me to play softball aswell. Which all goes back to me being hispanic”

 

After this amazing answer, I decided to pry a little more into outside influences that she gravitated towards on her own.

 

“Anybody that you have trained with, that you looked up of, that you feel like have impacted your game in either of those sports[Volleyball and Softball]?”

 

“For volleyball I like to watch a lot of College volleyball, especially Florida, the gators. I like to watch them because they’re just out of this world.” She goes on to heavily admire the Florida Volleyball team. “Like damn, how are you guys human, That’s how good they are.”

 

She then cites her brother and father as the main sources of inspiration for softball.

 

“And then for softball of course my brother and my father, which you already know that whole thing”

 

This answer I would like to elaborate on. While doing the interview I think Karla and I both forgot that the person reading these interviews would obviously not know us as well as we know eachother. Her father was a professional baseball player and her brother is currently one. She probably didn’t mention this right here because one she already knew that I knew and two, she was just trying to be humble. But yeah can you imagine that? Two professional baseball players in your immediate family, heck yes that’s going to influence you in a very good way.

 

I followed up on her and her family’s relationship with softball and baseball.

 

“Do you feel as though softball brings you, your brother and your dad closer together?”

 

I had a hunch as to what this answer was going to be.

 

“Yeah because that’s our common interest and that’s something we always talk about and bond over and can relate to. Because it’s not like they know a lot about volleyball, so I can’t talk to them about volleyball. I just talk to them about softball and we have our hour long conversations about that.”

 

Day 2

 

In the second half of the interview I decided to ask Karla, some things that I didn’t necessarily already know. 

 

“How do you think being an athlete has affected your life and who you are as a person? Has it given you certain qualities? If yes, how so?”

 

“Yeah definitely. I mean ever since I was little. Even the summer before covid me and my dad would go to the field very early in the blazing sun and just work out and train. With my brother I would go to van cortlandt and do the same and just run miles. It has definitely taught me discipline and hardwork and how to keep focused on my goals. And these are things I think I can and will apply further on to other aspects of my life”

 

Although I have been friends with Karla for over 4-5 years at this point I never realized actually how hard she worked. She’s been putting in work for a really long time and just working really hard. Always been a hardworker and now it makes sense where she got it from, she applies the same fundamentals she does to sports to anything off the field. 

 

Lastly I asked one final question.

 

“Do you see yourself ever not being an athlete? Or will this always be a part of your identity?”

 

“Yeah, definitely will always be a part of my identity. But I just don’t think I’ll be into it as much like when I go to college and start working on my medicine degree and stuff. But down the line of course my kids will be playing sports. I’ll also continue to keep watching sports and keep up to date. But yeah, definitely will always be a part of me and my identity.”

 

Notes:

 

Omitted questions:

 

How long have you been in this subculture, what was your first introduction.?

I decided to not use this question because the answer was given in response to another question and would have been repetitive.

 

Besides your family, what other influences have contributed towards your love for sports?

Omitted for the same reason as the question above.