SAN ANTONIO – Lia Morales is bouncing into the spotlight with her table tennis skills. The Harlandale Middle School student has found her passion in table tennis.
“It gives me something to look forward to,” Lia said. “Before I found table tennis, I was just kind of like searching for what I could do and what I love, but when I found table tennis, I feel like it filled in that empty gap that I had.”
Lia’s father, Frank Morales, tells me that she caught on to the sport while at Mission Branch Libary in 2019 after hearing the sound of the game being played.
“And then I picked up a racket and I just fell in love with the sport,” Lia said.
It didn’t take long for others to realize she was quickly taking to the sport.
“So then they introduced us to Vlad, which is the president (San Antonio Table Tennis Club) and he’s her coach,” Frank Morales said. “He just enjoyed her passion.”
Vlad Farcus and his team of coaches at San Antonio Table Tennis Club are continuing to train Lia.
“All the kids that come in the gym look up to her,” Farcus said. “We kind of can say we got lucky to have someone like Lia to join our club.”
Lia practices four days a week and is prepping for the 2022 National Team Trials this summer.
" I want to be the first San Antonian ever to make a national team,” Lia said.