Gil Basketball Academy Natalie Cortes When Natalie Cortes first picked up a basketball in the fifth grade, she found even the simple act of dribbling the ball extremely difficult. Salinas, CA, May 19, 2020 - She almost gave up the sport that first day. But she refused to give up — a
trait that became a huge part of the 14-year-old’s personality. “After many years of practice and determination, not only did I learn how to dribble, but I also learned how to do many other skills, too,” she said.
Once she joined Gil Basketball Academy, she fell in love with the game, but at one point almost had to give it up entirely. “My parents couldn’t afford me playing basketball in GBA Select because we had too many other things going on,” she said.