Their Potential is so Great... Saturday, January 19

If given the right opportunities to reach their full potential, what could these girls become?

I wonder this question all the time when I see the Lil' Sistas and today, when I coached 42 of them out in Antipolo, I wondered it again.  I can see one particular Lil' Sista here becoming the next female Filipino champion.  She's not the strongest puncher, she hasn't learned how to put her weight behind her punches just yet, but her technical ability is until other.  I only have to show her how to do something once and she's already on her way to figuring out how to master it and then show me just how well she can do it.  She pays attention to form like none other, brings a lot of eagerness and energy to learning how to box, and she's almost always the first to volunteer to try a new drill.  She always wants to be the first in line when I set up a new boxing exercise and I know she takes great pride in all she does during my Lil' Pow Boxing Class because she so obviously gives it her all and tries her best.

I commended her on her boxing skills today when I saw just how fast her footwork warm up on the agility ladder was.  I actually filmed it, too.  I put pressure on her by telling her to keep up with me as I backed up holding the camera, filming her, and she was pretty spot on not only with her footwork but with keeping up with me.  

"We have to get you to a real boxing club!" I told her as I patted her on her shoulder.  She smiled with pride but it was me that was more proud among the two of us.  She's really good and I'm not being biased her.

If these girls were given the right opportunities to succeed and to flourish in whatever made them happy, I wonder what would really become of them and how far they'd go.  I know that some of them actually are in college here in the Philippines.  The Center of Hope is run by the Voice of the Free and they've managed to gather donations and funds to send some of them to college.  That's so amazing.  They're already on such a great new path in life and it's amazing that it all stemmed from a terrible situation that brought them to the Center of Hope in the first place.  They are all fighters, fighting for a better life, and I can't wait to see how much further they go, what they become.