LA FERIA — La Feria senior golfer Vanessa Gonzalez signed a two-year golf scholarship with Fort Scott Community College on Thursday.
“It is a big opportunity,” she said. “It means a lot to me to be able to continue play golf. Also, I am the first one from my family to be able to play college sports, so that is cool.”
Gonzalez said La Feria golf coach David Briones helped her through the process and was mainly responsible for her opportunity.
“We have smaller colleges contact us every year,” Briones said. “They know we have some kids that want to play, I referred her to several coaches, she did her research and picked the one that she wanted.”
Briones said there are more opportunities for girls to play in college, especially the one afforded to Gonzalez. The senior will have the two years of college fully paid for while in Kansas.
“She was out for two years because of COVID,” Briones said. “She worked hard to make up for the past couple of years. This year she was able to come back at full speed and represent the school.”
Gonzalez plans to study criminal justice while at Fort Scott. She hopes to become involved in the forensic side of law enforcement one day and is excited about the prospects the community college in Kansas offers.
“This is a big opportunity for me, not many people get this chance,” she said. “I am excited to go represent my school and my coaches. The experience has been good here, playing golf at La Feria.”
Briones wants to make these events happen more often.
“We want to make this a yearly event,” he said. “There is plenty of opportunities for female golfers. The coach was asking me for more golfers, we just do not have enough that want to travel outside the state. The opportunity is there, you just got to be willing to leave Texas.”
