WHAT lies ahead for UST’s best softball player in recent memory?
With nothing else to prove in collegiate sports, Aiza de la Torre is eyeing a career in broadcasting as soon as she earns her communication arts degree next year. The 21-year-old star pitcher has played out her UAAP years, and is entering her senior year at the Faculty of Arts and Letters.
“I will not be playing anymore so I gave my all last UAAP season, but in my studies, I still have one year left.” she said.
De la Torre made history by leading UST to its first-ever UAAP title since the league was founded in 1938. The Softbelles did so in emphatic fashion, sweeping the tournament, and unseating defending champion Adamson University in the process.
For her efforts, the team captain became the first Thomasian to win both the MVP and Best Pitcher trophies at the same time.
Part of the problem naturally confronting someone like De la Torre involves the transition from star athlete to student, just a student. All but gone is the spotlight she usually got from collegiate softball’s biggest stage.
But De la Torre is convinced that the experience will involve no major paradigm shift, considering that the lessons—especially the hard ones—she got from playing softball for almost a decade are basically life lessons applicable in her studies and broadcasting career in the future.
She learned, for instance, how to deal with criticisms, and how to channel them for self-improvement. “What they say, you should just absorb. They won’t correct you if you’re right, anyway. It’s okay to commit errors but you have to make up for them,” she said.
Consider perseverance. She would not have survived—and excelled—in her chosen sport without it. She said: “Being a Tiger means having the fighting spirit and the heart to win, holding on when the game is crucial.”
Or reality check. “Don’t relax too much or be overconfident with yourself. We don’t know what might happen,” she said.
And then there’s faith. “God is with us.”
These were the very same attitudes that turned De la Torre into UAAP’s best softball player, a rare feat for someone like her who began playing at a school named Paglaum Village National High School.
As young as 11, she represented the Philippines in the Little League World Series, and went on joining the team on at least five more occasions. She was also a pitcher for the 2003 RP Belles team when she was just 14.
The Bacolod standout was soon discovered by UST Softbelles coach Sandy Barredo through his friend Reynaldo Fuentes, who was de la Torre’s high school coach.
De la Torre owes her development into a top-caliber athlete to both Barredo and assistant coach Roberto“Master” Iturralde. The two coaches helped hone whatever natural gifts she had inherited from her family.
Her grandparents Juanito and Catalina Confesor as well as her parents, Felipe and Alma, all played either as infielders or pitchers in school. Oddly though, only Aiza went to softball among the five de la Torre children.
But her college playing years are over. Now begins her pursuit of new dreams.
