Athletics
But she lacked the guidance to go straight to a college soccer program.
She ended up at Gavilan College in her hometown. But it didn’t offer women’s soccer. So she cut her hair and tried out for the men’s team and persuaded them to let her train with them.
She went on to play soccer at Evergreen Valley College, then transferred to San Jose State University and became the first member of her family to graduate from college, with a psychology degree and minor in kinesiology. She is now completing graduate coursework at JFK University.
Jennifer Smith, BAWSI’s co-CEO, said Ortiz’s experience and struggle for acceptance as a young athlete are common and inspired the program and what it tries to instill. Smith cited research by the National Women’s Law Center highlighting a stark disparity for low-income girls of color and access to sports and physical fitness programs. That’s why BAWSI targets schools where 70 percent of students receive free or reduced lunch.
In Santa Clara County, Smith said, other race- and income-based disparities surface in fitness testing data from 2015: 40 percent of economically disadvantaged students scored substandard in aerobic capacity, compared with 19 percent of their more economically well-off peers.
In the same data set, Smith pointed out that in Campbell, about 12 percent of Hispanic fifth-grade girls met fitness standards compared with about 31 percent of their white peers.
At BAWSI, the girls — who are of varying ages and grades — learn about teambuilding and other concepts to boost their confidence in interacting with peers, and pursuing sports at the middleand high-school levels. Fifth-graders also can take leadership positions among their peers to keep them engaged after multiple runs with the program.
The ideas resonate, Smith said, because they are being conveyed by young women who are pursuing athletics and leadership.
At Dorsa, many of the volunteer coaches are soccer players at Evergreen Valley College who literally ran off to practice after spending time with the students, showing them a tangible example of those concepts in action.
“These girls are like their favorite big sisters. They’re active women of all shapes and sizes who have made good choices in life,” Smith said.
Tiana Lujan, a 9-year-old fourth-grader at Dorsa, enjoys the bonds she makes with her classmates and the adults.
“I like making new friends and meeting the coaches,” Tiana said.
Smith said the program is also meant to give the girls weekly reprieve from environments often marked by housing instability and other hurdles that prevent such youngsters from taking part in sports and other extracurricular activities.
Smith said she sees the difference BAWSI makes when she surreptitiously watches her students at recess break away from the sedentary activities that elementary school girls tend to gravitate to and mix it up on the blacktop instead.
“They start taking over the playground. That’s when we know we’ve done our job,” Smith said. “It speaks to their fitness and confidence to take over.”
With donations from Wish Book, BAWSI hopes to fund a full year at a school site, for up to 130 girls between second and fifth grades, encompassing two eight-week programs over two semesters, covering equipment, staff salaries, transportation and other operating costs to keep the program free for participants.
Ortiz, who returned to the BAWSI fold last year, sees herself in the girls she coaches and mentors, and hopes to make their path easier than hers was.
“This was a gateway. I grew up in a low-income family, and when you join a sport, you can make a difference,” she said. “When I share my experience and tell them I used to be a BAWSI girl, their eyes just sparkle. It feels like I’m home.”