Laredo Sports Medicine Clinic and Power PT are proud to announce our spotlight athlete for April 2015…Alexis Nicole Martinez!
All eyes are set on the Lady Pumas basketball team as they walk in to the court ready to play another game. The audience is in an uproar cheering from the bleachers. After intense competition, the Lady Pumas have won another game! The crowd gets smaller as they exit and the gym lights turn off on the basketball court. The team retires to their locker room as their day has come to an end. Except, for one player in particular, this was only a warm up.
Alexis Nicole Martinez is not your average 14 year old. Since second grade when she joined flag football out of mere curiosity, sports have become her passion. Today, Alexis finds herself involved in a total of five sports, both in and out of school.
An 8th grader at Antonio Gonzalez Middle School, Alexis is a star athlete. She is active in her school’s volleyball, track, basketball, and softball teams. While she is competitive in all her sports, her favorite sport to play is basketball. She has been selected as the Most Valuable Player on more than one occasion.
Aside from her participation in sports teams at her middle school, Alexis also utilizes her time outside of school by playing with three traveling basketball teams: The Lady Timberwolves, The Lady Shockers, and The Lady Storm. She is also a part of the Spurs league, which is an independent league sponsored by the Parks & Recreation department of the City of Laredo.
Her schedule has recently gotten a little more hectic, as just under a year ago, she decided to join yet another competitive sport: boxing!! This past weekend, Alexis competed in her first amateur boxing match in Corpus Christi, Texas representing Los Dos Laredos Boxing Gym. Out of 50 fighters that participated, Alexis was chosen as the best fighter of the night. Her practice times and tireless training for these rigorous sports have Alexis and her family traveling at what seems to be a non-stop pace.
As exciting as it is to be in all these sports, it can also be overwhelming. Alexis admitted that sometimes she does not get home until 9 or 10 p.m. But to Alexis, it is just an average day. Raised by parents who were former athletes themselves, they have instilled into Alexis the importance of discipline and dedication. She even has an ongoing bet with her dad, who pays her $20.00 for every 3-point shot she makes during one of her games. When asked if she ever gets tired, she excitedly replies,
“One would think that I get exhausted but sports are my passion, so there is nothing I’d rather dedicate my time to than sports.”
It seems as though her hard work is paying off. Even though she is only an 8th grader, the basketball coach from United South High School has already taken notice of her and wants her on the team as soon as she enters high school. This summer, Alexis will be shadowing the United South High School basketball team. She will be traveling with them in hopes of improving her skills on the court. Next season, the coach will either start her off in JV or Varsity. Alexis is working hard to earn a spot on the Varsity team.
After high school, Alexis has aspirations to attend Baylor University to become a Varsity girl’s basketball coach and mentor young women the way she has been mentored by her coaches. She is particularly thankful to Coach Juan Avila whom she says has always believed in her athletic abilities.
In the end, Alexis is a prime example of someone who works diligently to reach her goals. She is focused on her goals, never quits, and looks up to her favorite basketball player, Kobe Bryant. As one of Bryant’s famous sayings goes,
“We can always kind of be average and just do what’s normal. I’m not in this to do what’s normal.”
Clearly, Alexis is not your normal athlete. Alexis is ready. It’s what she’s been training for all her life. LSMC congratulates and is proud to recognize Alexis Nicole Martinez as April’s Spotlight Athlete.