Guatemalan beach volleyball player at FIU aims to bridge the gap for country’s athletes

Sinking her toes into the warm, beachy sands, Natalia Giron Boesche steadies herself as she prepares to serve the volleyball for the Guatemalan national beach volleyball team.

The 26-year-old professional has traveled the world, competed for a spot in the junior Olympics and played beach volleyball at Florida International University, but the feeling of representing her nation of just over 17 million people is something that fills Giron Boesche with immense pride.

“It’s indescribable but also, I’ve gotten used to it,” she said. “When I stopped playing for a little while and got back for the first time it was a shock, I was like oh my god this is crazy what am I doing here.”

For Giron Bosche, she represents a small number of professional athletes who come from the Central American nation. She is trying to change that by inspiring and trying to give back to the future generations of Guatemalan athletes.

“When you get a big trophy or medal or even play well while representing Guatemala, it’s everything,” Giron Boesche said. “I think we’re trying to make history in every sense, for them [Guatemalan’s] and for us. Guatemala isn’t huge, so to do that is great for them and great for us.”

The journey that brought her from her home in Guatemala City to Miami saw Giron Boesche travel to China, Cuba and California before receiving an offer to compete for the Panthers. Her trainer at the time saw the talent she possessed and told the FIU coaching staff they needed to look at her, the rest is history.

In her four years with FIU, Giron Boesche played for one of the most talented collegiate volleyball teams in the country, never having a losing record in her time with the Panthers. She is now back at FIU, but as a graduate student pursuing her master’s.

Despite a stellar college career, Boesche looks back on it with a feeling of wanting to have done more.

“I don’t know if it’s only me, but it was not easy. I feel like I could have done way more, I think that’s probably one of the only regrets I have,” Giron Boesche said. “I think I did not enjoy my college experience that much because I was playing and training all the time.”

Even with that feeling of wanting to do more, she matured and credited college for taking her out of her comfort zone and helping her become who she is today. Giron Boesche said she had to live life without fear during college, and she got a tattoo with the phrase “don’t be afraid” to remind her to be fearless and continue to grow as a person.

“I think in college I focused a little bit too much on volleyball, if I had a bad practice or game, it kind of ruined my whole day,” Giron Boesche said. “I learned and grew from that, now I’ve matured in a way were my life isn’t just volleyball, and it’s made me work so much better.”

Following her career as a Panther, Giron Boesche began training professionally, then, like many of us, her world was turned upside down in March of 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic forced her into a new reality, but during that time she took to writing to help cope with the world around her.

Giron Boesche began writing to share her thoughts on her journey, and it quickly became a way to share insights, feelings, and inspiration to those who maybe want to follow her path.

“I got a lot of feedback from admirers back home who were reading those things and saying it makes them feel better, like they do it,” Giron Boesche said. “I honestly, do you think that if you have the tools to make it, you can.”

With her commitment to bringing more attention to athletes in her homeland, Giron Boesche has launched her own sports management company named NG sports management.

She plans on bringing equipment, coaching, and mentors with hopes that her business can open the door to the thousands of Guatemalan athletes chasing the same dream that she had when she was younger, being a professional athlete.

“I made the company with the intention of bring it back home, back to Guatemala,” she said. “It’s still new and I haven’t been able to do that many camps so far with it, but I want to bring international coaches to Guatemala.”

For a country that is experiencing economic and political hardships, the initiative from Giron Boesche can be a shining light for a new generation of Guatemalan athletes.

Liam Rooney is a reporter for FIU PantherNOW.