Article by: Maia Paterno
Photography by: Soung Jin Yang
Coming back from an exciting IASAS championship game in Jakarta last February, the varsity girls basketball team starts this new season with the hopes of returning to the finals to win ISM its first gold medal. Star player and starting forward, Tori Madrigal (Grade 11), excitingly anticipates the fruitful season to come. But what’s behind Tori and her passion for the game?
Though Tori doesn’t remember how or when she started playing basketball, she does know that it has always been an integral part of her life. In a family where each member plays basketball and supports a favorite NBA team, it’d be difficult not to fall in love with the game. But becoming an MVP and All-Tournament caliber player doesn’t come easily. Tori trains tirelessly because basketball is her main and only sport. With three different trainers, two of who are also Pacquiao’s trainers, Tori trained nearly every day during the off-season to improve, each day focusing on a different aspect of her game to become a great well-rounded player. She notes the importance of off-season “in sports, you need a lot of different skills so [off-season training] allows you to improve in different aspects.”
Besides dominating the basketball court, Tori and her family make frequent trips to the States to watch all of their favorite teams play, like the Chicago Bulls (Tori’s personal favorite). For her, playing ball really is life. Though she understands the difficulty of trying to play in college, Tori would still love the opportunity to play beyond high school. She hopes to go to a college where she can still cheer on great basketball teams and watch all her favorite aspects of the game: driving, blocking and dunks. “I enjoy blocking because it shows that you are working hard on defense by trying to make the opponent change their shot and blocking always gets people excited. Even though I can’t do lobs or dunks, they are one of my favorite aspects of basketball because they are probably the most enjoyable to watch. Dunks and lobs always get the crowd screaming and standing during games and it kind of gives the momentum to your team.”
While it may be too early to predict a gold medal at Taipei for our basketball, we hope that the hard work and dedication Tori put into her game will translate on the court and help bring together another championship caliber team.
