By james art By Dylan Ackerman | Cronkite News
PHOENIX — Grand Canyon Trinity San Antonio women’s basketball still dreams of indulging in the viral chocolate muffins from the Olympic Village.
A must-have on her plate or in her hands at every meal, the Puerto Rican point guard loved enjoying what many could only experience through social media.
Although the taste of the American-inspired confection somehow won gold in a country known for its sweets, there was a deeper meaning — beyond the taste — that made it her favorite part of the Paris Olympics last summer.
“It goes back to when my dad was little and he would go to the island and just have to experience what it means to be Puerto Rican. To be able to forge my own path and find out for myself what it means to feel and identify and become Puerto Rican,” San Antonio said. “That was the biggest thing for me.”
San Antonio isn’t the only athlete from the Valley who recently proudly wore a jersey from her grandmother’s home country on one of the sport’s highest stages.
Caprice Chiuchiolo, a Gilbert Christian High School soccer player, recently donned an Ecuador jersey in three group stage matches at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Carrying the colours, flag and crest on the highest stage for the first time as the lone player not originally from Ecuador, Ciucciolo finds comfort in knowing the country will support her.
That sense of support – in the midst of dealing with nerves – not only eased her transition, but also deepened her love for wearing the jersey and representing her nation.
It all culminated in an emphatic 4-0 win last week, where Ciucciolo scored twice and won Man of the Match, securing a quarter-final clash with reigning champions Spain on Sunday, which Ecuador lost 5-0.
“We know we have a lot of people cheering for us in Ecuador,” Ciucciolo, a Grand Canyon competitor, said before the World Cup. “They love football and they all rally around us and the team. More importantly, we know that they will be waiting for us when we return home, because we know that no matter what, the people of Ecuador will always support each other.
As they share the experience of representing their fathers’ legacy, GCU, and competing on one of the biggest stages, they feel more connected to their lineage than ever, despite living hundreds of miles from the country they represent.
It speaks to what it really means to wear the colors of your nation.
“It means everything,” San Antonio said. “Everything about who I am, what I’m fighting for, about my lineage, about my history. It’s a part of me.”
Born and raised in California, San Antonio remembers waking up as early as 5 a.m. to watch the 2012 London Olympics.
For her, getting the knock – her coach knocking on the door at 9pm in a hotel room in Spain for the Olympic qualifiers – instantly made her assume she would be cut.
After she was told she made the team, everything took off.
“Nobody works harder than TT,” GCU basketball teammate Laura Erikstrup said. “I wouldn’t say that about anyone but TT. This girl is in the gym 24/7, whether it’s seven in the morning or seven in the evening. She lives in the gym and works out harder than anyone I know.
When San Antonio was 18 years old, she received an invitation to the national team camp in Puerto Rico ahead of the 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Australia.
Expecting to eventually achieve the same result as the night she heard the knock, she approached practice with the mindset of making her teammates better.
Even when she did, her approach was beneficial both on and off the court.
“I was coming out of my freshman year of college at California Baptist,” San Antonio said. “I hardly knew anything about what it meant to play for a team like this or what it meant to represent your country. So it was a really great experience.”
And it couldn’t have happened without her grandmother, who, when San Antonio arrived for the national team camp in Puerto Rico, gave her a true understanding of what the culture was all about.
From taking her around San Juan and introducing her to her extended family, to Zumba classes in the morning and “walking with all the abuelitas 24/7,” these experiences left a lasting impact.
Seeing her grandmother’s version of life and how much it means to her leaves San Antonio eager to forge her own path, which motivates her more than ever. San Antonio averaged 7.5 points per game for a Puerto Rican team that finished eighth in the final standings. Puerto Rico faced former back-to-back WNBA champions, the Las Vegas Aces, at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina, last May in preparation for the 2024 Olympics.
With nothing guaranteed and the stakes even higher, San Antonio didn’t play the entire first quarter. Moving to start the second, she made an immediate impact, sinking a bank shot to open the quarter and finishing with a team-high 10 points.
“Funnily enough, I didn’t even shoot a ball before we even started playing and during the whole warmup because they had a chapel,” San Antonio said. “I just remember the biggest thing for me was walking into that room, Sid Coulson, Alicia Clark, like people you’ve seen on the phone or on TV. I think it was a confidence booster for me that it doesn’t matter what level you get to, your foundation still has to stay the same.
“I think not shooting the ball vindicated me, I’m not going to lie.”
In addition to guarding U.S. national team members Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, San Antonio off-balanced 6-foot-3 center Megan Gustafsson to hit a fadeaway jumper that prompted her teammates to cheer, “Trin, you you’re here with a hoop.’
As the youngest member fighting for a spot, making a lasting impression tonight wasn’t just about securing a spot on the team; it represented another opportunity for him to build deeper connections with his lineage and forge his own path through something he loves.
There was no better way to achieve that than on the biggest stage in all of sports.
“We have an Olympian here at GCU,” GCU women’s coach Molly Miller said. “It’s amazing. I think he’s grown a lot. She was playing against the best in the world. So for her, not only to play against that competition, but even from a mental standpoint. In playing opportunities, off court opportunities, preparation opportunities, she has really grown a lot.
“For her to give that back to her teammates, that’s special.”
Whether it was 2 a.m. or 11 a.m., Miller, Erikstrup and their families watched San Antonio and cheered her on, even turning off the TV so Miller’s children could take pictures with her in the background.
Although she expected support from family, friends and community, the outpouring from Puerto Rico far exceeded anything she had ever envisioned or expected.
“Before we left, there was a walk where we walked around the city of San Juan where we went to the governor’s office,” San Antonio said. “We hand them the Puerto Rico flag and all my teammates signed it. Anyway, the amount of support we needed right now kept us going. Then to see it in Paris, you don’t want to stop fighting. You don’t stop running. You keep playing hard. You might be dead tired, but you’ll keep going anyway.
“You want to do it for them just as much as you want to do it for yourself.”
Before Puerto Rico’s first game on July 28 against Serbia, coach Gerardo Batista assembled the team and that’s when the force hit the team’s youngest player.
“I remember coach trying to encourage us and just remind us why we’re here,” San Antonio said. “Then he said we’re here because of that little island we’re playing for in our hearts.” I literally broke down. i was crying Everyone was like “poor baby”. I was like, “you guys don’t understand.” It means a lot more to me than I think people realize.
Although she lost all three group games to Spain, China and Serbia and finished third on the team in points, rebounds and assists per game, her country’s performance had a much bigger impact on her off the court.
“I feel a little bit distant from my Puerto Rican ancestry, it made my way back to it,” San Antonio said. “I may not really have a Puerto Rican presence around me since my family is so far away, but through this experience I was able to find an outlet to bring me back to myself and my culture. That’s how powerful representing your country can be.
“Hopefully I’ll have more opportunities to play with the Aces on a different team, but the most important thing is to do it with my name attached to Puerto Rico.”
Ciucciolo, who has represented Ecuador since the age of 14, received what she now considers a life-changing call from an unknown number, which her father had to translate.
As it was an invitation to represent her father’s mother’s country of origin, she immediately realized the meaning of the honor, which has undoubtedly deepened for her over the years.
“It’s a great honor to be able to represent my family in this way,” Ciucciolo said. “Being able to play in a different culture, speak a different language and learn more about myself. It was crazy to think about it at such a young age, and I had an idea of what it meant, but I never knew what it would do for me.”
Like San Antonio’s pre-Olympic training, attending camps in Ecuador’s capital Quito allowed Ciucciolor to improve his Spanish, experience the breathtaking scenery and enjoy the local cuisine.
But the moment she truly understood what it meant to represent Ecuador came on March 21.
After beating Bolivia, losing to Chile and drawing with Paraguay in Group A of the FIFA U-17 World Cup qualifiers, Ecuador faced Uruguay in a match that would decide who would qualify for the World Cup.
A story was made that night that one Ciucciolo describes as unforgettable.
As well as scoring his first goal for the national team by faking the keeper after receiving a through ball to put Ecuador 1-0 up, Ciucciolo followed it up with a near-impossible strike, curling the ball into the side netting from outside the right corner of the box. — closer to the end line than to the corner itself.
The two goals not only put Ecuador up 2-0 en route to a 4-2 victory, but also helped the Ecuadorian U-17 team qualify for the World Cup for the first time.
“It was just a very emotional moment for me because I was gone for so long,” Ciucciolo said. “To be able to work my way up because it was the first game I started and contribute right away in that game, that meant so much to me. I knew my family and they all supported me at home and we all watched. But what really made it emotional was seeing how much it meant to Ecuador.
With her father’s family, including uncles, aunts, cousins and her mother’s entire side of the family in Ecuador, it wasn’t just a momentous moment for him—it meant even more to them.
“They were like us, but even prouder,” said her father, Tony Ciucciolo. “It’s a dream come true for all of us. We were all just in awe and it’s so surreal that she’s representing Ecuador. I never expected it. We took it step by step. We are so proud that she has this opportunity and has worked so hard to get it.
“I know that not only we will support her at the World Cup, but also all Ecuadorians. They have a great fan base and it just shows what it means to be Ecuadorian and represent your country.”