• Profiles home
• Karina
• Mark Ballon
• Antonina Ferguson
• Chris M
• Maura
• Arshana and Nikkita
• James Naknakin
• Yutah, William, Dion

Moresports Personality Profiles

Karina: Betty Suarez Only Better
by Kimberly Daum

The engaging 18-year-old who says she's a "pretty ordinary person" and "just likes to stay active" flashes a silvery grin as she arrives.

The longer she's here the more this extraordinarily open and warm heart reminds me of Betty Suárez, the main character of the popular "Ugly Betty" TV series. And it's not just the dental braces that inspire that comparison.

Her eyes twinkle and her grin widens when she talks, she'd like to travel to Europe as Betty has this season, she aspires to be a published writer, and she comes from a close mostly Latino family. (Her father, David, is Chinese and Venezuelan and her mother, Jocie, is Ecuadorian). And, she has the same enthusiasm for life and the honest, compassionate, and altruistic values as the perpetually selfless Betty Suárez.

When asked if she agrees with the similar characteristics between her and Betty she says, "Yeah and I think that's really cool!"

She's "Betty" but better because she's our Betty, one of YELL's guiding lights. She has a passion for sports and coaching, and for kids.

Karina's involvement in sports began when at five-years-old her father registered her in soccer.

"Since then sports has just come easily to me," she says.

Then when she was in Grade 8 Christy Hamilton, a program coordinator who used to work at Hastings Elementary School, asked her to volunteer with the MoreSports soccer program after classes.

Jennifer Scott, another program coordinator at the school, then told her about YELL.

"Working with the (MoreSports) kids, I absolutely love it. I love kids," Karina says.

"I thought it was great," she says. "The kids get to do sports and I get help them with what they like to do, and it's really fun seeing their faces all happy. They get exercise, meet new people, and experience new things."

Karina says the parents see the benefits of having their kids enrolled in MoreSports too.

"A lot of parents are happy about the program because their kids are enjoying it and are not being pushed around because a lot of sports are more strict," she says. "The parents say MoreSports is more laid back and is not as serious. It's a just way for the kids to get out there and have fun."

But the MoreSports kids' parents aren't the only ones noticing a benefit. Karina's mother, who is a supervisor for Canada Post, and her dad, who works at Blue Mountain Technology, notice changes in her too.

"They've noticed that I'm more mature, that I focus on what I have to do and that I get it done," Karina says.

"I've always had confidence in myself," she continues, "and coaching MoreSports kids has helped me a little more with that, with having a plan. It's also improved my grades, getting my homework done and studying for tests."

"It's made more aware of what's going on and how I should act and respond when something goes wrong. It's also made me more responsible because I have to watch these kids and take care of them."

Karina says becoming a leader has improved her relationships with others as well.

"I took this program with YELL about training to coach soccer and it talked about leadership, and how you have to step up to the plate, and not be scared, and tell people what you are doing," she says. "With my brother and sisters I try to set a good example now so that they come and talk to me and I can help with them with stuff."

And, this group of siblings is anything but ordinary: all have black belts in Pankration, a combination of "all forms of martial arts, including kick boxing."

Karina is the oldest of the four: her sister Zulay who plays baseball is 16, her brother Brandon who plays soccer is 14, and her sister Crystal who plays volleyball is 12. Their father coaches soccer for the Kensington Little Mountain league and is thinking of taking up martial arts himself "because he tries to take one of us on and is flipped on his back in a second," Karina grins.

"Martial arts have also helped me a lot with discipline, self-defense, perseverance, it taught me to never give up," Karina says. "It's helped me a lot through the years."

She started the classes in Grade 7 and earned her black belt two years ago.

Karina graduated from Templeton Highschool last year and has a full-time job working at a Safeway; she's saving to pay for post-secondary studies. Her plan is to attend Douglas College's teaching program "for two to three years, transfer to Simon Fraser University and continue a teaching program there, start teaching in elementary school, and work (her) way up from there," she says.

The only sad note in that plan is the saying good-bye, both to the MoreSports kids and ones she hopes to teach English to in the future.

"Growing up I've always loved kids but as I've been working them it's kind of hard at the end because you don't if you're going to see them again," she says.

But, if she did see them again what would she want to have happen?

"I hope that they would remember me and say, ‘Hey you're that girl that taught me before,' that they would remember my name still."

And what would she want to know about them?

"How they're doing and if they're still playing that sport, if they've improved and if they're still practicing."

Karina is hooked on coaching and teaching and says she's going to "coach as long as I can. (MoreSports) can always call me. I'm going to coach a basketball team right now."

And she tries to encourage her peers to get involved too.

"Some of things that I have I take for granted so this is a way that helps me give some of what I have to make a difference in someone's life. I think that's important because so many kids in my community don't have a lot. These sports can be all that they do have, and it's important to do because you can help them, make them happy, and be happy yourself."

She says that a lot of young people are reluctant to get involved with coaching, "They say it's a waste of time and there are other better things to do than helping out."

"That's kind of frustrating because we need a lot of coaches and it's kind of sad that they don't want to help in the community because older kids helped us and they don't want to do the same. That's why it's important that parents put kids in MoreSports programs early so that they can see older kids helping them and will be more likely to do the same when they're older."

Karina's a bright, well-rounded, self-assured, kind, and generous young woman who is as comfortable in soccer cleats or a black belt as she is writing a short story she hopes to see in print one day. She's no ordinary person; she's an extraordinary young woman-in-action.

Karina's braces come off next January, but her heart won't change so she'll still be a role model like Betty Suárez, only she's ours which makes her that much better.