Local basketball standout to participate in U16 National Team Trials
Written by admin, May 20, 2013, Comments Off
Courtesy Roberto Treviño,
(Laredo, Tx)- Leslie Alvarado, a Memorial Middle School eight grade student, has been accepted to attend the USA Basketball Women’s Youth U16 National Team Trial tryouts May 23-27. Alvarado is one of 125 athletes nationally who went through an extensive application process and was accepted to participate in the team tryouts, in addition to the 33 girls who were invited by the USA Basketball to compete for a stop on the USA U16 National Team.
Alvarado, who is 15, will spend five days at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, participating in all of the events associated with the team trials. Alvarado will hone her skills in individual, position work, stretching/shooting drills, and scrimmages with some of the top females basketball players in the country.
“It is a great opportunity. I’m so excited and honored to be accepted to the tryouts.” said Alvarado. “I have been working really hard all these years and it has paid off.”
Since Leslie was a little girl, she has been dribbling a basketball. “I just love basketball, said Alvarado. “When I was in the first grade, I had to play basketball with the boys.”
In fourth grade, Leslie began playing with the girls on local traveling teams, the Laredo Lady Badgers and Lady Air Squad, coached by her father, Juan Alvarado. She dedicates all her spare time to refining her basketball skills by practicing at school, at home with her dad, and with her personal trainer Dwight Becker.
Alvarado is thrilled that she will be able to compete against some of the top females athletes in the country. “I want to see how my basketball skills compare with some of the nation’s best players,” said Alvarado. “My main goal is to make the 2013 USA U16 National Team and represent our country.”
According to Alma Pro, Memorial Middle School Coach, she wants to be like her favorite player. “Leslie wants to be like Brittney Grinner. She wants to be the first girl in Laredo to dunk a basketball,” said Pro. “This is an amazing opportunity for Leslie. She is an excellent student and an outstanding athlete and she will make LISD and Laredo proud.”
