In 2019, a new and unknown virus emerged in the Chinese city, Wuhan. In no time, the virus, now known as Coronavirus, Covid-19, or only Covid, was spreading across the world and forcing everyone to stay home.
The disease spared no one. Establishments had to close their doors temporarily and find ways to continue functioning and thriving without endangering the safety of the people. Many of them found a way, but, what if your type of life couldn’t allow such changes without having any damage?
Tennis athlete, Helena Ramos Rocha e Silva, 19, is a part of this complicated but magnificent life. Having been in contact with tennis since she was a child, Helena fell in love with the sport and started training professionally a year and six months ago. However, her plans were crushed by the arrival of Covid-19 in Brazil. “The idea was to play junior tournaments until June, and from July onwards, professional tournaments. The pandemic really got in the way, as we were unable to make the transition from junior to professional in an organized way. It delayed me a year, basically”, she said.
Despite having learned to walk again, Helena believes that the worst thing about this whole situation was not having a real and concrete goal. “I spent a year and two months without playing an official game. It was very hard to follow the routine without having anything in sight, without a goal, a tournament”, she confessed. Continuing her confession, she added: “The practice is very different from the game, so you don’t really know what level you’re at. You get a little lost, like, ‘Am I ready to play?'”
Gradually, the pandemic got better and discussions about the return of the tournaments started to foment in Europe. However, with the worsening of the pandemic here in Brazil because of the arrival of new variants of the virus and the lack of vaccines, Helena said that they were being excluded from this reopening: “We did not see the possibility of leaving the country. It’s as if we couldn’t do our jobs. (…) We saw the whole world reopen and hold tournaments, but we were caged in”.
After seeing other athletes thriving around the world, Helena knew she couldn’t stay caged any longer. Calling consulates every day, she and her partner managed to enter Tunisia and finally start to play tournaments. Their stay was supposed to last four weeks, but due to Brazil’s critical and unstable conditions, they’ve already extended it to six weeks. “Brazil is Russian roulette. We are afraid of returning (to Brazil) and not being able to leave again. The longer we stay here (Tunisia), the better.”, she vented.
Feeling safer in a place where the protocols are being followed, Helena doesn’t regret anything: “The routine is tough, what we are going through creates doubts. It’s hard, but the reward comes”. She also believes that, in these tough times, we have to be firm and sure of ourselves: “It’s in these difficult times that we have to prove our resilience. It’s hard, but the reward comes”.
————————————————————–
The article above was edited by Thays Avila.
Liked this type of content? Check Her Campus Casper Libero home page for more!