A history of volleyball and inclusion in JUAR tournaments

the of Isabela Aybar is a story that portrays the spirit of JUAR, a national and federal tournament that promotes inclusion, respect for diversity and non-discrimination. In this competition, everyone is invited to give their best and try to qualify for the national level.

Aibar was born on March 3, 1994 in San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca. At that time she had another name, but nothing prevented her from becoming an athlete with all the letters.

At the age of 12 she falls in love with a classmate, which for many is one of the most beautiful experiences of adolescence, but for her it was painful and she lived it in pain for fear of what they will say.

“I discovered love when I fell in love with a guy in my class who was of the same sex at the time, so I hid it because I felt it was wrong,” says Isabela. For years she has had to hide her feelings about her, which prevented him from experiencing her first love at an early age. “I could never have teenage love that is reciprocated, it was frowned upon for one man to have love for another. It is a phase that I have completely undone and I feel a kind of resentment because what I have tried has not been accepted. I missed a great experience ”, she confides.

“I felt a great burden – he confesses -, because I had to see this boy every day and I had to do everything possible so that he didn’t notice that I loved him”. After carrying that secret for 5 years, she decided to listen to her heart and proposed to her once she finished school. The liberation he felt was total and the boy’s gestures stand out: “Obviously he was not reciprocated, he accepted it in the best possible way, he thanked me and told me he didn’t feel the same, but this gave me the momentum to start my passage “.

“La Isa”, as she is known in the volleyball scene, thus began her search for her identity, which led her to later start the change of gender. “When I saw my cousins ​​and friends change, I needed to feel the same. As a man I didn’t feel well. “

After school, he decided to start hormonal treatment, with a small detail: in Catamarca this procedure did not exist. The closest place was Córdoba, where the procedure was free, but she had to travel often, so he had to look for a job to cover the costs. The process lasted three years on medication, up to three pills a day, but she had to stop because she was feeling sick. She also began the process of getting the DNI as Isabela, which allowed her to become a competitive athlete. In addition, she began her studies as an English translator at the National University of Catamarca.

From an early age, volleyball was present in his life because he saw his sister playing, but he never dared to practice it because the sport for “men” was football. It wasn’t until 2019, without having the slightest idea how to play it, that she decided to settle her pending bill. He starts taking small steps in the city sports center and then makes the leap and becomes part of the Club Olimpia team.

“La Isa” surprised the coach, who immediately decided to write her as “federated” so that she would become an official player of the club. With no previous experience, the technical director decided to skip the third category and move on to the second non-stop. “At the beginning he told me not to pull very hard because the rivals would complain, he always wanted to take care of me”, says Isa, but there are no valid claims from the rivals because they are backed by the rules and this is indicated by the his identity document.

After more than three years, today he plays in the top category of the club. “When Vicky (DT) told me she was going up first, she told me I had to let go and play one hundred percent,” she says because high performance sports are unforgiving and she had to give it all.

Her passion for volleyball led her to join the team of the National University of Catamarca in JUAR. Her 1.85 height makes her stand out and she takes advantage of it to drop her arm like a hammer and throw powerful blows to beat the rival defense. “Many times they have complained about my height, I am 20 cm taller than the average height of the other girls, nature has helped me in this”, she says smiling at her.