Imagine competing in your first edition of the Brazilian University Games (JUBs) with a crowd organized just for you? Basketball player Isabela Kist knows what it’s like. At 18 years old, the basketball athlete from the University of Fortaleza (Unifor) never enters the court alone. In addition to their teammates, Luciano Martins and Elizete Kist left the capital of Ceará just to support Isabela. They are the student’s parents.
Luciano and Elizete accompany the young woman practically everywhere. At the age of 10, Isabela was discovered by her teacher at an internal school tournament. With a good height for his age, he soon began competing and standing out in school games. A quick change that made parents take precautions. Since then, they have become their daughter’s biggest fans.
But here comes the question. Is Isabela bothered by the harassment from her fan club? “The truth is that I am very happy and grateful to have my parents here with me. They always supported me. They are in every competition I participate in. So it gives me another energy as well as confidence to see them in the stands for my first game”, declares the Unifor athlete.
Luciano and Elizete are staying in Águas Claras, which is about 25 kilometers from Brasília. They don’t want to interfere with their daughter’s experience, much less her concentration. “We never stayed in the same hotel as her. We are like fans, supporting Bela. We are proud of our daughter and we are going to value her work and that of the entire team”, says Luciano.
Luciano Martins and Elizete Kist cheering for their daughter Isabela Kist at JUBs – Célio Júnior/CBDU/Reserved Rights
Isabela is studying veterinary medicine and, since her high school days, she has shared her studies with basketball. But did that get in the way? “On the contrary. Basketball has always been an ally for her. Bela has always studied hard and sport is an outlet. Even before going to college, she was already training with the university team,” said her father.
Luciano is from Brasília, Elizete from Rio Grande do Sul. They lived in São Paulo when they decided to move to Fortaleza in search of a calmer life, with more time to dedicate to their children, which made all the difference.
“We both worked a lot, so we were limited. Now, I have full time for my daughters. As Isabela began to stand out and I saw that the sport added a lot to her life, we understood that we should help her not lose her enthusiasm. I didn’t understand basketball very well myself when Bela started, so it totally transformed my life too. Today I’m passionate about basketball, I watch every NBA game [Liga Profissional de Basquete dos Estados Unidos] and in her matches it couldn’t be any different”, says Elizete.
Confident, Isabela’s parents believed that Unifor would win the women’s basketball title at the JUBs and risked a points difference in the debut: Luciano said it would be 11 points, while Elizete bet on nine points. However, the Fortaleza team showed a lot of strength to beat UniRV-GO 90 to 31.
