Dec. 2, 2009
At 6'3", Fatima Balza is considered smaller than most of the Penn State volleyball players. She keeps to herself most of the time, needing the extra push from others to speak up sometimes. Yet, her demure persona is deceiving because when she steps onto the court, there is nothing but passion and determination in her eyes.
Balza is currently a junior on the women's volleyball team. She is playing for the top-ranked team in the nation, but her journey to State College was not simple or typical. Balza's journey from a town in Venezuela to the big Penn State stage is the testament of a true competitor.
Balza was born in Merida, Venezuela, a town bordered by the Andes Mountains. At 12 years old, she picked up playing volleyball and by 15, she had already made the Venezuelan National Team. The demands of having a spot on the Venezuelan National Team required her to move 14 hours away from home to the capital, Caracas.
"I had no family there," Balza said. "I missed them [and] I'd see them only three or four times a year."
Although Balza succeeded on the National Team for over four years, she always knew that if she wanted a better future, she would have to go further away from home than the capital. In 2007, Balza prepared to enter the United States, despite not knowing a word of English.
Balza was accepted to play on Western Nebraska Community College's volleyball team. "Freshman year I had to take [English as a second language] classes. We were learning English in English and I kept thinking, `How do you learn English in English?'"
Balza's spoken English developed slowly, but her volleyball skills progressed quickly. By the end of that season, she was named Region IX Player of the Year. She also led the team to the Section IX Title and the 2007 NJCAA Championship.
In her sophomore season, she became captain and realized that her leadership role forced her to use her voice, even when she wasn't confident in her newly developed language. However, she didn't let that stop her and led the team to another Region IX Title. Her improvement over the two years was unbelievable and impressed scouts from all over the nation, including Division I schools like Penn State.
Assistant coach Dennis Hohenshelt remembers the first time he saw Balza in her championship game. He was impressed with her from the start, but once she joined the team at Penn State, he couldn't believe how quickly she progressed in a sport where communication is key and her first language was Spanish.
"I think she's one of the hardest working kids and just not in the volleyball court," Hohenshelt said. "She has to work hard in the classroom and I never see her not work to the best of her abilities. She's the kid in her asking for feedback, she's the kid wanting to look at film to see what she's doing, see what the other teams are doing. I think she just has a really good work ethic."
Balza is grateful for the experiences she had in Nebraska, but couldn't be happier once she made it to a Division I team, specially the reigning National Champions. "I love it so much here," she said. "Everyone helps me in any aspect, with volleyball, with class, it's so awesome."
Balza still gets home sick, especially since the three or four times a year that she saw her family became one time if she was lucky. The last time she saw her family was last Christmas.
Coach Hohenshelt is pleased with her maturity, but realizes that it comes at a price. He said, "Kids here, if they have problems what do they do? They call mom and dad or mom and dad are here on the weekends to see them. With Fatima, she gets to talk to mom every so often, it's not like she'll see her at Christmas, which might have been the last time she's seen them. It'll be a year because she finished school at Western Nebraska and came here a day later so I think she's a very, very mature person for her age and can handle a lot of situations by herself. You don't have to lead her by her hand. She can handle a lot of situations that most kids her age can't."
Even when Balza spoke of the long distance relationship with her family, or the fact that she's been moving around almost her entire life, a smile never left her face. Most students couldn't imagine living in a foreign country without a single relative or close friend and one week a year where they could be reunited. But Balza never lets it get her down. She never takes her success for granted and does whatever she can to build on her accomplishments. She is living proof that any goal is attainable with enough drive and willpower, and still manages to remain humbled by it all.
"I want people to remember me as someone who worked hard. I came without [speaking] any English and communication was hard. I used body language to communicate. I just smiled for everything and now I'm here."
With the NCAA Tournament on the brink of starting, Balza hopes to win another title in her first season as a member of the team. For now, she'll keep practicing her volleyball skills, her speaking skills and her communication skills until she is the best one on the court. Don't let the big smile fool you because when it comes time to play, Fatima will always come out stronger than the rest.