Photo from @cathrinebuccat instagram The 30th of July became one of the highlights for the girls under our program when they met with Catherine Buccat Graversen.
Catherine is one of the national players of the Women’s Football Team of the Philippines, and was also a part of the team that represented the country during the 2019 SEA Games. She also plays for her team in Denmark and recently signed for a team in Cyprus to continue her football career.
The session was participated by ten (10) girls from the different sites in the Northern Barangay in Tacloban where FundLife holds weekly community-based sessions that talks about football and other societal issues. Graversen found it easy to talk with the young girls as they appeared to enjoy sports too, especially Football.
“It’s not good to dwell on your shortcomings, you can’t always win a game or score a goal. Instead we can learn from our mistakes and use what we learn to be the better version of ourselves.” said Graversen when the girls asked her some questions on how she deals with defeats.
At 23 years old, she already played for different teams and different matches in different countries. Her passion for the sport has brought her to meet new people and go to new places. Aside from being one of the best football players, Graversen also dreams of becoming a physical therapist. She said to the girls that it’s important to have a plan for their future and in her case, she would like to continue to study in the university and be a physical therapist someday.
During the session, Graversen and the girls shared their experiences about the ongoing pandemic. She shared how it was hard for her to continue to have matches and practice because of the lockdowns brought by COVID-19.
“There’s no straight way to success, there’s always going to be bumps on the road. You may encounter an injury, or you may not have enough playtime, or have these lockdowns but you need to remind yourself that there are other opportunities waiting for you. Don’t let these bumps stop you from achieving your goals and keep going.”said Graversen as she encouraged the girls to follow their dreams.
“Success stories are never the same for everyone. People always like to copy the success stories of famous people but remember that your story and their story is different. Remember that we all have different ways of achieving success.” she tells the girls as they asked her tips on achieving their future goals. When the session was about to end, the girls performed a song for Graversen as all the participants are part of the choir group in their community which earned them an applause from her. The girls were all-smiles when the session ended. Saying it was one of the most enjoyable and memorable sessions they had and they can’t wait to meet the next champions in the future.
“I learned a lot from Miss Catherine, she told us about how she began playing and how she became a champion in Football. I’ve learned from her advice that no matter how hard the struggles we are facing, we still can achieve our dreams if we believe in ourselves. I really think that I should apply the advice she imparted on us in my life.” One of the girls shared after the Champion Session.