Road to Junior Pan-American games 2020

     Growing up with a single mom, I faced many hardships. One of those hardships we are facing now is trying to raise money for my gymnastics. Gymnastics is a luxury and not a necessity, yes, but when you have a God given talent, you get pushed in the direction of many opportunities.
     I remember asking my mom for candy or a shirt, she would often say no because there is no money for that. Hearing “I promise that when I get paid and have a little extra, I will get it for you okay papa” made me wonder why it was so hard if she worked. As I got older, I began to understand a bit more. I’ve heard her cry at night, stressing out, and wondering how she will make her rent or buy us food. She makes so many sacrifices and gives up a lot for us, and that makes her my hero.
     I began doing gymnastics at the age of 11 with no previous experience. I
was very hyper and jumped around the house, until someone told my mom to look for a gym to burn off all that energy. My mom took me to Genesis gymnastics in Lancaster, CA and that’s where it all began. Scrawny boy with a bowl haircut excited about learning how to do backflips and new tricks. It was not long before my talent was recognized and made the boys team after only eight months.
After skipping level four and competing level five division one, I won the Blackjack National championship, won top six representing California as an “All Star” in the regional championships, and went to become the Regional Champ in five states. Not bad for being my first year competing. 
     I went on to level six in 2019, and became the Northern and Southern California Champion. Now I am training to compete level eight after skipping seven. At this point I have been watched and recognized by Los Angeles Times en Español and a segment in Telemundo 52 as athlete of the week. These two reporters contacted Yamil Bukele, president of the Salvadoran sports and he responded. Being the son of a Salvadoran immigrant, I was eligible to compete and represent the country.
     My mom received an email from INDES “Instituto Nacional de los Deportes de El Salvador” asking to send them a resume so that they may follow my gymnastics a bit closer. Soon after I received a message from Douglas, the person in charge of the gymnastics department in El Salvador. My mom and my coach both agreed to do this and now I will be competing in the junior Pan American games (June) and Central American games in (Nov/Dec) 2020. The goal is to compete for the next four years to prepare me and introduced me to another level of competition so that I can prepare for the Olympics in 2024.
     This is any athletes dream to represent a country in the Olympics, and I have that opportunity, but money is a problem. I am trying to find sponsors and doing fundraisers to help my coach, mom, and myself get to these countries to compete. I hope that you could find it in your heart to help me in my journey and showing the world what I have to offer. I have had a few sponsors to cover my gym fees. Competition fees are 1200 a year and $240 monthly. The cost to compete in for El Salvador 2020 is 15,000, of which I have raised $360. I plan to sell T-shirts and do pancake breakfast at my gym to help with
most of it. With help from a sponsorship and support to back me up, I could be a lot stronger to continue with what I love most.