Lyca Basa: an adopted child who overcomes obstacles to be what she is now
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 03 May 2018
Being told that she is an adopted child only when she was already in second year college was a mule kick in the gut. Lyca Basa?s talent as a pitcher hadn?t even been surfaced yet then.
She was just coming off a so-so performance in the Palarong Pambansa in 2013 when Adamson University head coach Ana Santiago discovered her and placed under the team?s provisional list.
?It came as a surprise, siyempre. I was shocked, although many times before, may naririnig na ako na hindi ako tunay na anak ng kinagisnan kong parents,? the now 24-year-old Basa told this writer in reference to adoptive parents Federico, a fisherman in the coastal hometown of Hinobaan, Negros Occidental, and wife Leoncia.
?I was able to recover naman later on. Naisip ko, buhay pa ako at mabuti nga at may nag-ampon sa akin. Marami dyan iniiwan na lang kung saan-saan. Yung iba tinatapon pa sa basurahan,? Basa reasoned out.
?Sabi ko na lang sa sarili ko, ito ang ibinigay sa akin ng tadhana. Natuto akong maglaro ng softball, I might as well take the most out of it,? Basa relayed.
?When coach Ana saw me in Palaro, I was a mere reliever in Bacolod City?s pitching rotation, so sabi ko, I?ll try my best to improve and hope that someday maging starter ako. Last UAAP season, yung malalakas naming player graduated at isa ako sa mga na-elevate,? Basa narrated.
?That?s true,? coach Ana attested. ?When I saw her at Palaro, hindi siya ang no. 1 pitcher ng Bacolod City. Malimit nga third base at outfield ang laro nya. But when whe was on the mound, nakita ko may braso, may katawan at malakas, kaya ni-recruit ko na rin sya hoping that someday, pag-graduate ng mga pitcher ko, may successor na.?
?Matiyaga sya. Masipag mag-ensayo at gusto talagang matuto. In the UAAP 79th season, no. 2 na sya behind Benjamin (Analyn) at itong season na ito, ini-start ko na sya,? Santiago disclosed. Kabado nga ako sa simula ng tourament dahil medyo hilaw pa sya at ang daming mabibigat na makakaharap nya na member pa ng Philippine Blu Girls.?
Lyca, an adopted and only daughter of the Basa couple in poor Hinoaan town, indeed, persevered, turned her wounds into wisdom. She had been wounded many times in her life, made mistakes. Some called them failures, but realized that failure is really God?s way of saying, ?Excuse me, you?re moving in the wrong direction.?
Her real worth surfaced in he last UAAP softball war where she presided over the Adamson Lady Falcons in coming up with a four-peat earning for herself the ?Best Pitcher? honor.
She was also chosen the recipient of the same much-coveted distinction in the just concluded National Open softball championship beating the finest hurlers in the country and virtually becoming the no.1 pitcher today.
Lyca fell in love with softball when she was still an 11?year-old Grade V pupil at the Paz Escanila Elementary School where she was introduced to the game by her first coach Vic Benjamin.
While playing in the Little League meets, her talent was spotted by coaches Rosvelle Hulleza and Aileen Cabaybay who brought her to the Domingo Lacson National High School in Bacolod where she was taught to play multiple positions.
?God is good talaga sa akin. Binigyan Niya ako ng mga magulang na yung ibang tulad ko ay hindi nagkapalad. He also gave me talents in playing softball na nagagagamit ko ngayon to pursue a college degree, have a good job in the future and a chance to repay those who?ve touched my life,? Lyca said.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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