Dexterous 16-year-old Fritzie Marley Bautista earned another gold medal at the 2023 Provincial Sports Meet Badminton Girls’ Singles Category held at Winzone Badminton Center, Tarlac City, Tarlac last February 6-10, 2023 with all her passion and determination. She will compete, as a 2nd timer, at Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association (CLRAA). 

 

Her love for badminton all started when she was in Grade 4 and once defeated a much-older grade 6 student at their sports festival in Bestcap Career College Inc. She then waited for her name to be called for her next match but it didn’t happen. With disappointment in her heart, passion also sparked within her, and made a promise that she will be a player someday. 

 

Her promise to herself was fulfilled when she became an athlete representing her previous alma mater, Nambalan Elementary School, at the Municipal Meet 2017 as a grade 6 student, 2 years after she made that promise. 

 

All passionate and eager, Fritzie bagged the gold medal at the Municipal Meet 2017 despite being a first-timer. She then competed at Cluster Meet and bagged another gold paving her way to Provincial Meet, now in Doubles Category. She claimed another gold and made it to CLRAA. Her promise is not only fulfilled at that point but even surpassed. 

 

Her journey as a student-athlete continued when she entered the secondary level of education in Nambalan National High School. Her domination at the municipal level also did not tarnish as she grabbed the gold in two consecutive years. But as the Covid 19 came, all competition was also disrupted, hence, she was not able to play for two straight years.

 

As all things are starting to go back to normal, Sports Meet was also back after a two-year hiatus. But Fritzie’s passion and eagerness did not seem to deteriorate as she clawed her way back to CLRAA after snatching golds at the municipal and provincial levels representing Tarlac Agricultural University and Camiling municipality respectively.

 

However, despite all of her achievements, there are still people around her that underestimate her being athletic. “Some people that surround me ay ni-lalang ‘yong sports, and to be honest, big deal siya sa akin kasi badminton is not just a sport for me anymore, I can say that badminton plays a very important role in my life” she mentioned. 

 

Additionally, balancing her studies and being a student-athlete is the main challenge for her right now. But in fact, Fritzie still managed to be an honor student. 

 

As CLRAA is approaching, her next goal is to clinch another gold and make her way to Palarong Pambansa.