Athlete of the Month

Monique Ramirez
Paralympic Judo

As the other WSC Scholars watched the goalball demonstrations at Chase Park with curiosity and intrigue, one student confidently put on her blindfold and knee pads and took her place on the court. WSC Scholar Monique Ramirez was the only student who had played goalball before, a Paralympic sport for visually impaired individuals where athletes play with blindfolds, throw a ball with bells inside of it and throw themselves to the ground, landing on their sides to attempt to stop the ball from passing into their goal. Three years ago, Monique learned how to play goalball through the Chicago Park District. Since then, she has been perfecting her skills, scrimmaging with her teammates and preparing for competition; because there are so few local goalball teams, Monique and her teammates yearn for the competitive experience and will be ready when the time comes. However, it is the social aspect of the sport that she enjoys the most; after practices, she and her teammates will spend most of the day together just hanging out. Her bubbly personality was noticeable at the 2011 WSC Scholars Meet and Greet when Monique helped teach her fellow WSC Scholars goalball – she yelled encouragements toward her teammates and enjoyed introducing her sport to the other students.

Like many high school student-athletes, Monique is involved in other sports as well, including judo and track. She participates in a judo program at Walter Payton for sighted students and students with visual impairments, alongside 2010 WSC Scholar Lydia Au. Currently, Monique is working on achieving her yellow belt promotion and helps introduce the sport to other students by giving demonstrations around the city.

Monique was recently accepted to World Sport Chicago’s Scholarship Program, which offers her Kaplan ACT tutoring, Chicago Scholars mentoring and the opportunity to receive one of 16 renewable college scholarships worth up to $10,000 annually ($40,000 total), supported by the MacArthur Foundation. She is looking forward to the opportunities that the program provides – Monique is eager to start the process of considering colleges that will help her achieve her goals of being a psychologist and living an independent life. She believes that her involvement in sports and the opportunities that sports have given her to meet and interact with different people will help her achieve her goals athletically and academically.