George Washington University Athletics
Make It Worth It
10/8/2019 2:43:00 PM | Women's Volleyball, My GW: Celebrating our Stories
Valle takes pride as leader for Mexican volleyball
Surrounded by a group of middle school girls at a gym in her native Mexico, Paty Valle offered a question: "Do you love volleyball?"
"YES!" came the enthusiastic reply on cue.
Valle was the guest of honor at the practice last December, and she had a point to make to a group of youngsters hanging on every word from the hometown hero turned national star.
"How much do you love volleyball?" Valle continued in her native Spanish. "Do you want it as a hobby or something more serious?"
Indeed, Valle's own answers to these questions have shaped her unlikely journey.
The 6-foot-4 Valle took up volleyball at 16 and quickly devoted everything she had to the sport. That commitment took her hours from home to a training center in Tijuana for high school where she essentially learned the basics of the game on the fly trying to keep up with her country's brightest junior prospects.
Then, Valle's education continued across the border, playing collegiately at TCU. The adjustment to a new level, while adapting to a new language in a foreign land, tested her limits daily.
These days, she is even farther from her native Guasave than ever before as she plays out her final season as a graduate transfer at GW. Her infectious energy and veteran poise have helped boost the Colonials to a 9-7 start, including three straight wins to open Atlantic 10 play.
That backstory explains why the opportunity to represent her homeland on the international stage means so much. She'll have her latest chance to don Mexico's red, white and green this week at the NORCECAÂ Women's Continental Championship in Puerto Rico.
"I actually don't know how to describe it," Valle said. "Just hearing my teammates singing (the anthem) and looking at our flag, I don't know how to describe the feeling. I get chills every time."
🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
Valle never expected this life. How could she?
Because of her height, her parents encouraged her to try sports growing up. She was more focused on her studies and training as a dancer under the direction of her mother Ana.
There was a basketball trial at 14, but she quit the team after two months of training. Too physical, she thought.
Ultimately, the after-school sessions learning salsa, hip-hop and reggaeton moves kept her busy enough.
"I wasn't an athlete at all," Valle said. "I just wasn't interested in sports."
That is until Valle found volleyball.
Her career on the court started with standing in for a few points with her mother's team at an athletic club in Mexico City. Then came an invitation to practice with them.
Within weeks, Valle was headed to Tijuana to train at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento in Tijuana. Â
Six months later, she was playing with the Mexican U-18 National Team in a tournament in Cuba as a middle blocker.
"When I first heard it, I didn't believe it," Valle said. "I was like 'No, that's too big for me.
"I remember I got my backpack and my uniform with my name on it, and I was like 'Oh my gosh.' For sure, I cried."
🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
Valle's remarkable rise wasn't without a few bumps along the way.
Her height gave her an obvious advantage at the net, but most of her first year in the game was spent drilling the basics of how to hit, serve and block.
The coaches were hard on her because they saw her potential. Tears sometimes followed, but then she'd quickly bounce back with a dose of self-deprecating humor.
Often, Valle had to swallow her pride and ask for help about where to be on the court.
"As a middle, my setter was always like 'Paty, come here. Paty, go here. OK, we're in rotation three, go here,'" Valle said. "I was so lost."
Stationed nearly 900 miles from her friends and family back home, Valle persevered by taking it one day at a time.
"I was like 'Paty, if you are going to be here, just make it worth it,'" Valle remembered. "That's really my quote because that's how I thought whenever it was hard."
Fernanda Güitron had a front-row seat to it all, both on the court as a teammate and in their dormitory as a roommate.
She remembers early practices when Valle was relegated to hitting the ball off the wall to herself because she couldn't yet match the level of everyone else and tough nights when her friend contemplated catching a flight home and ending the experiment once and for all.
"I don't know what would've happened to her if she would've gone home," said Güitron, who played collegiately at the University of Arkansas. "It was super brave of her to keep playing and keep pushing."
🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
Ultimately, Valle stayed because she grew to love the game of volleyball and the opportunities that came along with it.
There were visits to the U.S. to play in top club tournaments and once-in-a-lifetime trips to Asia, Europe and South America. She relished walking into a gym for an international competition and knowing her opponents from other countries in the region.
She had been playing for less than two years in 2014 when she was elevated to Mexico's Senior National Team, which included a trip to the FIVB World Championships in Italy.
"I was so nervous," Valle said. "At that moment, you find out how strong your mentality is because you're playing in front of your idols. I was like 'OK, I love them and they inspire me, but I can't show that right now.'"
Valle's top playing highlight with the national team came in a Pan American Cup qualifier when she was named Middle Blocker of the Tournament.
"That was pretty cool," Valle said. "It was always the same countries winning the individual trophies. When I got one, it was a big experience."
Her favorite memory with her national team was FIVB World Grand Prix pool play in 2015 when Mexican fans packed the arena for three straight days in Monterrey. Tournament officials opted for a music-only anthem to allow the assembled crowd to provide the vocals together.
The scene provided another reminder of how lucky she is to represent her country.
"Now I know what it feels like, but it still feels exciting every time," Valle said. "It's a huge honor."
🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
Valle's performance on the international stage helped land her a full athletic scholarship at TCU. It was no easy decision, but she was up for the challenge.
Valle played sparingly over four seasons with the Horned Frogs, but she gained valuable experience on and off the court. She learned what it takes to play at the highest level of the collegiate game and adjusted to taking classes in English for the first time to graduate with a degree in Communication Studies in just three-and-a-half years.
Valle had already made up her mind to seek a graduate degree elsewhere when she went to Japan last October to play with Mexico in the FIVB World Championships.
On the other side of the globe in Foggy Bottom, Sarah Bernson was impressed with what she saw watching the Mexicans via livestream. When Valle officially entered the transfer portal, the GW coach was the first one to reach out.
It's turned out to be a great fit for all involved.
Valle has flourished with a position switch to opposite hitter that allows her to stay on the court for all six rotations, even incorporating a jump serve as she continues to round out her game. She ranks second on the squad in kills (2.19 per set) and tied for second in blocks (1.02 per set) for a squad at the top of the A-10 standings.
"I was excited to do something new, and they gave me that opportunity," said Valle, who is pursuing a master's in Sport Management. "I think that's what made me work hard and keep working hard. I still need to fix a lot of things, but I'm going to do the best I can do for the team."
Upon arriving in Foggy Bottom, Valle let Bernson know that she hoped to play with her national team whenever possible. Because of summer training, she had missed out on some opportunities while at TCU.
That was no problem for Bernson, even if it meant missing a weekend of A-10 play with the Colonials.
"Her leaving doesn't diminish us," Bernson said. "It only enhances what she's going to give to the program."
Valle appreciated the chance to play with Mexico at a NORCECA event in Canada in June and then at the Pan American Cup in Peru a month later. The event this week in Puerto Rico is part of the road to qualifying for the 2020 Olympics.
Opportunities like this help Valle stay connected to her homeland where she's a role model for the next generation.
Valle's busy schedule keeps her from getting back to Mexico much as she would like, but when she can visit, the requests pile up quickly. She's happy to stop by a practice and deliver a pep talk about the power of hard work and what it means to truly love the game.
"Volleyball is growing up in Mexico," Valle said. "There are a lot of new players, and everyone wants to represent Mexico, for sure. The fact that they keep calling me means a lot to me. I feel the responsibility to go and be good for them."
"YES!" came the enthusiastic reply on cue.
Valle was the guest of honor at the practice last December, and she had a point to make to a group of youngsters hanging on every word from the hometown hero turned national star.
"How much do you love volleyball?" Valle continued in her native Spanish. "Do you want it as a hobby or something more serious?"
Indeed, Valle's own answers to these questions have shaped her unlikely journey.
The 6-foot-4 Valle took up volleyball at 16 and quickly devoted everything she had to the sport. That commitment took her hours from home to a training center in Tijuana for high school where she essentially learned the basics of the game on the fly trying to keep up with her country's brightest junior prospects.
Then, Valle's education continued across the border, playing collegiately at TCU. The adjustment to a new level, while adapting to a new language in a foreign land, tested her limits daily.
These days, she is even farther from her native Guasave than ever before as she plays out her final season as a graduate transfer at GW. Her infectious energy and veteran poise have helped boost the Colonials to a 9-7 start, including three straight wins to open Atlantic 10 play.
That backstory explains why the opportunity to represent her homeland on the international stage means so much. She'll have her latest chance to don Mexico's red, white and green this week at the NORCECAÂ Women's Continental Championship in Puerto Rico.
"I actually don't know how to describe it," Valle said. "Just hearing my teammates singing (the anthem) and looking at our flag, I don't know how to describe the feeling. I get chills every time."
🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
Valle never expected this life. How could she?
Because of her height, her parents encouraged her to try sports growing up. She was more focused on her studies and training as a dancer under the direction of her mother Ana.
There was a basketball trial at 14, but she quit the team after two months of training. Too physical, she thought.
Ultimately, the after-school sessions learning salsa, hip-hop and reggaeton moves kept her busy enough.
"I wasn't an athlete at all," Valle said. "I just wasn't interested in sports."
That is until Valle found volleyball.
Her career on the court started with standing in for a few points with her mother's team at an athletic club in Mexico City. Then came an invitation to practice with them.Within weeks, Valle was headed to Tijuana to train at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento in Tijuana. Â
Six months later, she was playing with the Mexican U-18 National Team in a tournament in Cuba as a middle blocker.
"When I first heard it, I didn't believe it," Valle said. "I was like 'No, that's too big for me.
"I remember I got my backpack and my uniform with my name on it, and I was like 'Oh my gosh.' For sure, I cried."
🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
Valle's remarkable rise wasn't without a few bumps along the way.
Her height gave her an obvious advantage at the net, but most of her first year in the game was spent drilling the basics of how to hit, serve and block.
The coaches were hard on her because they saw her potential. Tears sometimes followed, but then she'd quickly bounce back with a dose of self-deprecating humor.
Often, Valle had to swallow her pride and ask for help about where to be on the court.
"As a middle, my setter was always like 'Paty, come here. Paty, go here. OK, we're in rotation three, go here,'" Valle said. "I was so lost."
Stationed nearly 900 miles from her friends and family back home, Valle persevered by taking it one day at a time.
"I was like 'Paty, if you are going to be here, just make it worth it,'" Valle remembered. "That's really my quote because that's how I thought whenever it was hard."
Fernanda Güitron had a front-row seat to it all, both on the court as a teammate and in their dormitory as a roommate.
She remembers early practices when Valle was relegated to hitting the ball off the wall to herself because she couldn't yet match the level of everyone else and tough nights when her friend contemplated catching a flight home and ending the experiment once and for all.
"I don't know what would've happened to her if she would've gone home," said Güitron, who played collegiately at the University of Arkansas. "It was super brave of her to keep playing and keep pushing."
🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
Ultimately, Valle stayed because she grew to love the game of volleyball and the opportunities that came along with it.
There were visits to the U.S. to play in top club tournaments and once-in-a-lifetime trips to Asia, Europe and South America. She relished walking into a gym for an international competition and knowing her opponents from other countries in the region.
She had been playing for less than two years in 2014 when she was elevated to Mexico's Senior National Team, which included a trip to the FIVB World Championships in Italy.
"I was so nervous," Valle said. "At that moment, you find out how strong your mentality is because you're playing in front of your idols. I was like 'OK, I love them and they inspire me, but I can't show that right now.'"
Valle's top playing highlight with the national team came in a Pan American Cup qualifier when she was named Middle Blocker of the Tournament.
"That was pretty cool," Valle said. "It was always the same countries winning the individual trophies. When I got one, it was a big experience."
Her favorite memory with her national team was FIVB World Grand Prix pool play in 2015 when Mexican fans packed the arena for three straight days in Monterrey. Tournament officials opted for a music-only anthem to allow the assembled crowd to provide the vocals together.
The scene provided another reminder of how lucky she is to represent her country.
"Now I know what it feels like, but it still feels exciting every time," Valle said. "It's a huge honor."
🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
Valle's performance on the international stage helped land her a full athletic scholarship at TCU. It was no easy decision, but she was up for the challenge.
Valle played sparingly over four seasons with the Horned Frogs, but she gained valuable experience on and off the court. She learned what it takes to play at the highest level of the collegiate game and adjusted to taking classes in English for the first time to graduate with a degree in Communication Studies in just three-and-a-half years.
Valle had already made up her mind to seek a graduate degree elsewhere when she went to Japan last October to play with Mexico in the FIVB World Championships.
On the other side of the globe in Foggy Bottom, Sarah Bernson was impressed with what she saw watching the Mexicans via livestream. When Valle officially entered the transfer portal, the GW coach was the first one to reach out.
It's turned out to be a great fit for all involved.
Valle has flourished with a position switch to opposite hitter that allows her to stay on the court for all six rotations, even incorporating a jump serve as she continues to round out her game. She ranks second on the squad in kills (2.19 per set) and tied for second in blocks (1.02 per set) for a squad at the top of the A-10 standings.
"I was excited to do something new, and they gave me that opportunity," said Valle, who is pursuing a master's in Sport Management. "I think that's what made me work hard and keep working hard. I still need to fix a lot of things, but I'm going to do the best I can do for the team."
Upon arriving in Foggy Bottom, Valle let Bernson know that she hoped to play with her national team whenever possible. Because of summer training, she had missed out on some opportunities while at TCU.
That was no problem for Bernson, even if it meant missing a weekend of A-10 play with the Colonials.
"Her leaving doesn't diminish us," Bernson said. "It only enhances what she's going to give to the program."
Valle appreciated the chance to play with Mexico at a NORCECA event in Canada in June and then at the Pan American Cup in Peru a month later. The event this week in Puerto Rico is part of the road to qualifying for the 2020 Olympics.
Opportunities like this help Valle stay connected to her homeland where she's a role model for the next generation.
Valle's busy schedule keeps her from getting back to Mexico much as she would like, but when she can visit, the requests pile up quickly. She's happy to stop by a practice and deliver a pep talk about the power of hard work and what it means to truly love the game.
"Volleyball is growing up in Mexico," Valle said. "There are a lot of new players, and everyone wants to represent Mexico, for sure. The fact that they keep calling me means a lot to me. I feel the responsibility to go and be good for them."
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