opinion

 

 

Alexandra Lange: a story of pins, strikes, and determination

by Silvio Sirias

 

The secret to success is constancy to purpose.

Benjamin Disraeli

Her gloved right hand is open, palm facing down, over the air vent in the center of the carrousel. Cradled in her left forearm, against her side, rests the heavy, gleaming ball. The hand now dry, she steps onto the platform and stares intently at the pins at the end of the lane. In position, she bends her knees, just slightly, and holds the ball before her, waist high, as if it were an offering to the alley gods. With her eyes still focused on the prize, she tilts her head forward and takes three short, quick steps. Toward the end of her approach, these become two longs strides as her right arm swings back in an underhanded arch. At the same time, her left arm extends forward and, for a glowing instant, she’s poised like a skater, speeding on ice. As her right arm reaches the lowest point of its forward motion, she begins to glide upon the shiny wood surface and gracefully releases the ball. She watches the sphere closely as it spins with a low rumbling sound toward the cluster of pins.

All ten fall --- a strike.

Thus begins seventeen year old Alexandra Lange’s quest --- one that, later that evening, would culminate in her becoming the Under-21 Women’s Champion in Panama’s 2007 Pro-Am Bowling Tournament.

“Alexandra’s been bowling since she was eleven,” says her mother, Martha Bernal. “The first friends we made when we moved here from Colombia were bowlers. They invited us to join them one evening, and ever since that day Alexandra has been hooked on the sport.”

Today, Alexandra, who is originally from Bogota, is ranked first among young female bowlers in Panama.

“Big deal!” a cynic once said to her. “No one bowls in Panama, so anyone can become the champion.”

Perhaps so.

But then, to say that demonstrates that this person doesn’t really know Alexandra --- her most salient trait is her singular determination.

“I didn’t want to participate in the tournament because I was sure to win. I don’t want to brag, but the truth is that I’m quite ahead of the rest of the competition my age. But my coach insisted that I play. He said that it would be a good experience for me to bowl alongside the professionals who were coming from the States.”

Usually, because of the weak competition in the local Under-21 category, Alexandra prefers to play against skilled adult bowlers. “I seldom win when I compete against veterans, but I find the experience far more rewarding because even though I’m likely to lose, I learn a lot.”

And that inner drive to measure up against the best reflects the way Alexandra approaches everything she does in life. A senior at Balboa Academy, Alexandra enrolled in the English-speaking school six years ago, without knowing the language.

“At first I was overwhelmed. I was in the same classroom with students who had been speaking English all of their lives. But that only increased my determination not to let my frustration get the best of me, and within six months I was speaking English fluently, as if I had been doing so all of my life as well,” she says.

“Alexandra is always willing to work harder than anyone else,” says Erinn Magee, a history teacher and Assistant Principal at Balboa Academy. “That’s why she’s usually successful in her endeavors.”

At present, there are two goals Alexandra wants to accomplish in life: to become an architect, and to be a professional bowler.

She plans to attend college in the United States. “I want to go to a small college with a reputable program in architecture. But, at the same time, I’d prefer a college that has a bowling team. School will always come first, there’s no question about that. But I also want to go as far as I can in bowling. That’s my true passion.”

“I encourage her to dream of becoming a professional bowler,” says her mother who, in addition to being Alexandra’s biggest supporter, is also her biggest fan. “I know that she will work hard to achieve both goals, therefore I have complete faith in her.”

“I’m going to be an architect someday. Of that I’m absolutely sure. But, then,” says Alexandra with an impish smile, “when I watch the professionals bowl on ESPN, what I want, more than anything, is to be just like them. Nothing would make me happier than to be playing against the best in the sport I love so much.”

 

 

Silvio Sirias resides in Panama. He is the author of the novel Bernardo and the Virgen (Northwestern University Press, 2005). The manuscript to his second novel, Meet Me Under the Ceiba, recently won First Place in the 33rd Annual Chicano/Latino Literary Prize, sponsored by the University of California in Irvine. He is currently working on The Saint of Santa Fe, a novel about the life and times of Father Hector Gallego. For more information, visit Silvio’s website at http://www.silviosirias.com