An Amateur athlete and physical education teacher, Carolina Monteiro, has shared with STREETOPIA when she fell in love with basketball and how it helped her profession. She wishes to train as many children as possible and ensure that, in the future, sports somehow make a difference in their lives.
At the age of seven, she had her first contact with sports. First it was swimming, then judo and she even tried ballet, but realized that dancing was not her thing because it was not as dynamic as most sports are. And then one day, at the school she attended, the physical education teacher commented on the opening of a basketball school at the Círculo Militar Club in São Paulo: “So I said to myself, I like it a lot. Those were good days, because I am from the '91 and '92 generation. Players like Tati Pacheco, Tati Paixão, who are a year older, also started there. When I was 10 I started playing in the Círculo and I haven't stopped ever since..."
Until then, all the sports she had had contact with were individual modalities, but when she realized the mechanics of basketball and mainly how it is a team’s sport, she not only fell in love with it, but it also made all the difference to her:
The sense of belonging to a team together with a lot of dedication and discipline, contributed for her to develop much faster than she had imagined. At the age of 12, at her new home, she was already an athlete from the São Paulo Basketball Federation, more specifically, a player at the Olympic Training and Research Center.
In addition to being focused, Carol remembers one of the most inspiring figures who undoubtedly made all the difference in her game: “I always saw Iverson play and for me what he did with the ball was simply nuts. It was a sort of very artistic move and at the same time very aggressive... I watched that and said: wow!, that’s awesome. He was the guy I looked up to and said, I want to do those things myself. It had a huge impact on me...!” Another very inspiring figure was Magic Paula, whom I had the pleasure of meeting as Director of the Olympic Center: “I saw Paula all the time. She came down and talked to us. After meeting her in 2020, she recognized me and remembered that I was an athlete at the Olympic Center, it was really cool...”
Between the ages of 10 and 19, she went through a period during which she dedicated herself 100% to basketball, but when she realized that she wouldn't become a professional, she took a break for a few months in order to decide what would be the next steps she would take in her career. When an athlete at the base realizes that he or she will not make it to the professional team, it is normal to take some time off, to seek understanding and find where to better use his/her energy.
The plan was in place and enrolling in a physical education course was her choice. Ironically, a semester later, she would be reunited with basketball playing on the college team, where she did very well during her four years of graduation: “Feeling that emotion again was sensational. My team was very good, for at least 3 years, we always reached the finals. My college didn’t grant scholarships, it was pure struggle”
Carol then, while studying, started working at a gym and soon realized that this was not the kind of environment she wanted for herself, up until when she had the opportunity to become an intern at Colégio Bandeirantes, through the invitation of an acquaintance who worked there: “I passed the early screening, I then started to do an internship there. When I joined, it took about 4-5 months, and the women's head coach left because she had received a proposal and then I was able to join the coaches in my first year of internship, something that usually only those who had already graduated could achieve. So I was already coaching the women's basketball team and my internship lasted 2 years...”
She has always been pro sports and believes they are one of the main pillars of education, it was at this stage that Carol was sure that it was exactly what she wanted to do, that is, transmit all her knowledge to young people: “I like teaching and I want to work with kids. I had good physical education teachers and I want to be a good physical education teacher and basketball coach to my kids. That's when I said: This is my place..."
Nothing would make more sense in this beautiful journey dedicated to the sport, if basketball were not within its purpose, and thus with all talent, being a teaching and inspirational instrument for so many children, just as her teachers were to herself.
