Kristina Base (’27) was catching a ball with her right hand at softball practice, just minutes before the big game. The ball flies overhead and dives straight into her index finger, splitting her nail in half. Although blood was gushing, she simply asked for a band-aid, not wanting to hold her team back on an important day. 

Kristina’s resilience moves with her from season to season. As a busy varsity female athlete at Webb, she works withlittle break, taking on football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and softball in the spring. In a schedule full of practices and games, she is living through a constant test of grit, resilience, and belonging.  

She refers to football as the hardest sport she has done in high school.  At first, it was difficult to prove that as a girl, she belonged and deserved a spot on a boys team.  

As a female athlete, Kristina describes her biggest challenge as proving her worth to the coaches. She explains that some coaches act like they don’t want her on the team or don’t want her to be there at all.  

“They’re going to push you a little further out from the rest of them and make you feel isolated. And you have to bring double the effort to be a part of the team,” Kristina  said.  

That pressure set upon by unsupportive coaches often left her questioning whether she should continue, and whether or not she was proving anything by staying in the team.  

“But then you get that feeling,” Kristina said. “Am I going to give up because that one person doesn’t want me to be there?”  

Standing by her goals, Kristina takes every hit and every tackle to make her stronger, pushing her to be better every day. Although she might not like the tough practices in the moment, she loves how fulfilling it is at the end.  Kristina gets tired like everyone else, yet she keeps pushing herself to consistently bring high energy to the team.   

“Kristina has been an incredible asset to our football program. She consistently brings energy, organization, and commitment that helps everything run smoothly,” said Michael Dunford, football coach of defensive strategy.  

That drive doesn’t stop when football season ends. As winter rolls around, Kristina shifts seamlessly onto the basketball court, where the demands are different, but the mentality is the same.