Winning a championship is already a difficult task for an athlete, but defending the title is another feat much harder to achieve. Only a few can attain back-to-back titles in their respective sporting events and one of them is Lady Woodpusher graduating team captain Mira Mirano. As The LaSallian’s Female Athlete of the Year for UAAP Season 81, Mirano bested other nominees as she epitomized what it means to be a female Lasallian athlete through her playing years in the UAAP.
Striking a balance
In her first year in DLSU, Mirano had to watch her teammates from the bleachers as she waited for her time to come. When she was finally given the go signal by her coaches to play for Board 1, she didn’t waste that opportunity and immediately seized that moment. “Suddenly it came to my mind that I will be graduating [from] this school and I should have a good contribution to the team—to win the championship—and to be an example to [other] athletes,” she shares.
“Heartbreak, hardship, and pressure” were the words that Mirano can think of to summarize her UAAP career. “I realized that being an athlete is truly hard,” she says. Aside from her athletics, the reigning Most Valuable Player (MVP) juggled with her academics, being a double degree student in Sports Studies and Philippine Studies major in Mass Media.
“You really need to balance the sport and the studies. Every year for me is [getting] harder and harder being a student athlete, but [with] God’s help, my parents’, my coaches’, and also the team’s, I [can] all things,” she affirms.
Ecstatic finish
To cap off her collegiate journey, Mirano dedicated extra time in solving chess puzzles in her dorm. “If last season was challenging, this year [was] more challenging for me because we needed to defend the title,” she adds. The sixth year student believes that the teamwork they displayed in their trainings and the words of wisdom from their coaches paved the way for her to win the prestigious accolade.
“Kaya natin ‘to, hindi lang tayo mawalan ng pag-asa. Tiwala lang”, were the words she would always tell her teammates to boost their morale during her final playing year. Eventually, the Mirano-led squad won the championship, successfully defending the title for the Green-and-White.
(We can do this, let’s just not run out of hope. Have faith.)
Not only did she and her team defend the championship, Mirano also received the most coveted individual award in one’s UAAP career. “I’m happy and thankful! I didn’t expect to receive the MVP award. All I wanted was to achieve the goal of our team, which is to defend the title. For me, the MVP award is only a bonus,” Mirano shares.
“I think wala naman akong babaguhin ‘cause everything happens for a reason,” Mirano explains when asked if there was something she wanted change throughout her journey in the UAAP.
As to where the MVP of season 81’s chess competition is headed after college, “To be honest, I have no specific idea. But if there’s an opportunity for me to work, I will choose to work,” she discloses.
