story and pictures by wallballworld.com
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope, consistency and confidence.
Growing up in Corona, Queens both my parents worked full-time. During the summer months, I often sauntered to the public pools and the city parks where I learned to play handball with friends. After getting a summer job in Manhattan, I discovered the handball courts adjacent to the, “cage” in Greenwich Village. It was here that I became an enthusiastic handball fanatic. I saw firsthand how hard-work and practice equals success. As a young woman, I applied these lessons to my own work ethic and went on to study medicine and become a family doctor. In 2003, I went to participate in the Waterford world handball championship in Kilkenny, Ireland. Here, I began to learn more about the sport and the World Handball Council. 5 years later, I developed a team comprised of men and women players of Puerto Rican lineage to compete at Federation cup in Nizza Monferato, Italy. Here we carried the coat of arms to the event and won the silver and gold in the men’s and women’s team event respectively.
First female President of The World Handball Council celebrates her appointment with United States Wallball CEO Jasmine Ray.
Over the next decade, my team was regularly invited to different venues around the world to compete where they performed exceedingly well. Soon after, my dream became a reality and I saw myself working behind the scenes diligently to improve the quality of tournaments worldwide. This year, I was the first woman in history to be elected to be the presidency of the World Handball Council. Now my aspirations are to open the one wall division of the WHC world championships by emphasizing a team event and individual grades apart from the 4-Wall. We hope to eventually join prestigious mainstream games within the next three years. Currently, I reside in Long Island with my husband and my little boys who are seven and eight.