Photo by: Greg Wolf

Before going to bed, Eva whispers into Ailyn´s ear as she eats potato chips. While her children were visiting, they all had to sleep in the same bed in Eva´s one-room apartment.

 

Video of Eva in Sunday's match.

Video: basketball.swf

 

 

Eva Campillay

As director of the basketball league, Eva Campillay is the foremost spokesperson for what sports mean to the women of San Pedro.

"Playing basketball is an opportunity for women to meet each other. Men have always had something to do on Sunday afternoons. Now women do too," she says.

Campillay believes that the women of San Pedro use basketball to foster self-reliability and to ease some of the stress in their over-burdened lives.

Campillay works full-time in a tourism office and is a single mother with two daughters; her husband left her over five years ago.

These difficulties in her personal life clearly inspire her play and leadership in the basketball league. She understands how sports help to develop the self-confidence needed to overcame obstacles in life.

The love for her two daughters, Katy (8) and Ailyn (6), is strained by distance. They live with Campillay´s mother in Vallenar, more than a 1000 kilometers from San Pedro.

Nevertheless, her daughters visit San Pedro during breaks in school. At these times, they are always by her side, seemingly attached to her hip, constantly asking for their mother´s attention.

Campillay always has a hug for them, even when she´s working or in the middle of a basketball game.