Overcoming story: an autistic boy led his basketball team to victory

An autistic boy, who had never played as an attacker, managed to lead his basketball team to victory after scoring the necessary points to win a mini tournament of that discipline in Santiago del Estero, according to his coach and his mother.

This is Juan Carlos Fabrini, 13, who lives with his family in the city of Fernández, about 45 kilometers from the capital of Santiago, and who at age 7 was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

According to Telam his mother, Ana Cecilia Fabrini, Before basketball Juan Caros “had no dialogue with anyone, he did not share, he was in his world”.

Nevertheless “Basketball was like a salvation, it helped him get him out of his bubble, now he relates, he shares with his teammates”Cecilia commented.

Juan Carlos plays for a club in the city of Fernández, at the “Miguel Alberto Cortijo” Sports School. He started there at the age of eight, and although he left for a while, he resumed at 11, when he found his passion for sports.

“He is a good defender, in the offensive part he lost concentration a bit, however I always told his teammates to pass the ball to him, cover him, support him and in the semifinal of the mini tournament he entered and scored”, told Télam his teacher, Miguel Alberto Corbalán.

“At that moment we all jumped for joy”, said the coach.

Juan Carlos’s team had been third in the provincial tournament of the Basketball Federation, where 24 teams play. But last Sunday they had their revenge by becoming champions in a mini tournament in which a Bronze Cup was played between all the teams that had been in third place.

“All this is a very great emotion, an achievement not only for him, but for his teacher and for us the family; we are all very happy because we did not expect such a resounding change”Ana Cecilia Fabrini, mother of Juan Carlos

“Now he is very committed to basketball, a sport that he loves, because before we tried others such as rugby and soccer but he did not like it,” added Cecilia, who said that they are “a humble family” and that thanks to leaving champions his son received a ball and a pair of basketball shorts. “He’s super-happy,” he said.

For his part, “Profe Corbalán” explained: “The final was very exciting, because we were even. Juan Carlos enters, I tell him: ‘It’s all in your hands,’ he blocks and prevents the other team from scoring, because he always he played defense. ”

“That is how everything was compromised, but an attacker made a basket and Juan Carlos told me: ‘Profe escaped me’ and I tell him ‘it doesn’t matter now we have to go back'”, the coach continued.

“He tells me ‘well, Prof, I’m going to mark him up to the house if necessary’, and he did so, he did not stop marking”added Corbalán.

However, “at one point he was close to the goal and they gave him a pass and made a double, and so we added points, we won and everything was joy and congratulations for Juan Carlos,” he explained.

At the same time, he expressed that the entire city is very excited by the achievement of Juan Carlos and did not hesitate to emphasize that “sport is essential for stimulation and fundamental for socialization. From our club we promote inclusion, which we consider very important “.

“We are all very grateful to his colleagues, his teacher because Juan Carlos had a very sedentary life. The pandemic affected him a lot and basketball helped him a lotIt is something very stimulating for him, so much so that he even traveled to the city of Santiago alone with his companions, a great step, “said his mother.