Daddy loves his sports. When the girls were born he was determined to keep them away from the Barbie dolls, the make up and the dresses. No. His girls were going to be tough tree climbing, dirt-playing, nature-based and athletic.
For the most part daddy's dreams were dashed as soon as make up was introduced to the girls at a young age. He calls it the bad influence of the female-dominated family dynamics, especially on the Colombian side. :-) The girls have, in fact, largely stayed away from Barbies, but their fascination for make up and dress up has meant daddy has had to retreat and try to find balance.
The balance, thankfully, has come from a love of nature and animals, a natural attraction for natural curiosity with the great outdoors, an "I have no problem with getting dirty", a "I want to hold that worm" approach to things. Sports has just now begun to show itself largely because this was the first time that Irini was allowed to participate in formal sports at school. She started with a great soccer season, followed that up with track & field and, by the time third season came around, took up basketball where, as luck would have it, daddy was her coach! The picture above was taken just before the first even game of this new father-daughter tandem.
For daddy it was the first time coaching such young athletes and it was a big learning curve, both in terms of expectations and in terms of approach. This is totally different from coaching varsity, for sure! But he was delighted with the fact that, for the first time in his life, he had a chance to coach his own daughter. Though one of the youngest on the team, Irini was awesome purely in her hustle and her grit. The pride just keep growing for this father... even despite having to concede some losses in the make up. :-)
