Unbreakable

The following article ran in the Spring 2018 edition of Bruin Blue Magazine.

By Chris Foster

Kylee Perez is honest.

"I'm stubborn," she said.

Perez, a senior infielder on the UCLA softball team, gave a smile, an ornery one, but a smile. This trait she volunteers with pride.

Her stiff-neck resolve has taken her far. She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of nine. It was, and remains, a mere speed bump.

Through years of youth sports, the stubbornness prevailed. She played sports — all sports — against girls and boys. She excelled in soccer and basketball, but it became clear that softball was her future as she entered Martinez Alhambra High School east of the Bay Area.

During the whole time, she and her parents managed her disease. It was not going to win.

"It was tricky," Perez said. "I learned what worked for my body. My parents were crazy about researching and figuring out what was going to work so I could play sports."

The determination has led to a decorated career where she has hit .389 with 12 home runs and 98 runs batted in. She was twice named first-team All-Pac-12 and has helped UCLA reach the Women's College World Series three consecutive seasons.

The stats and honors are nice. But the real payoff came two years ago when Bella Morales, a young softball player, approached her after a game in Cathedral City, where the Bruins were playing in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.

"She introduced herself and told me she was a Type 1 diabetic and that she looked up to me," Perez said. "That was the first time that happened. It was so gratifying."

———

This has been a special year for the Perez family.

Kylee is heading for home, with the lure of another Women's College World Series appearance that could end in the Bruins' first national title since 2010. The journey has been enhanced by the presence of Briana, her sister, who is a freshman infielder for UCLA.

"I love having her here," Kylee said. "She's my best friend. We get along so well that we can communicate without talking."

95129 — **Kylee (left) with sister Briana**

This is the second time the sisters have played on the same team. The last time, in 2014, they led Alhambra to a CIF-North Coast Section Division II championship.

"This whole journey, watching the little rug rats grow up and get to go to a dream school, for it to come to this moment has been pretty amazing for the Perez family," said Jeff, their father.

Jeff and his wife, Sonja, were adamant about letting their children explore all sports. Kylee played soccer and basketball, but when she was introduced to softball, it unearthed a passion.

"It was challenging, just the aspect that you fail seven out of 10 times," she said. It was fascinating. It's a sport of failure and you learn to balance that out."

Only Kylee did a little better than failing seven out of 10 times. She had a .590 batting average during her four-year high school career.

"When I started playing softball, I definitely knew I was better at it than the other sports," she said.

The biggest challenge came off the field.

Sonja began noticing her nine-year-old daughter was losing weight despite eating more than usual. Kylee said she felt fine, but her mother, who was working in pediatrics at the time, took her for tests.

They learned she had Type 1 diabetes, which required insulin shots and constant monitoring of the blood sugar.

"I knew something was wrong because my parents were really quiet," Kylee remembers.

At first, she said she was "in shock." Her first thought was that she would not be able to play sports. But, she said, "that went right away and I was not going to take 'no' for an answer."

Her parents considered the risks, but they also knew that taking sports away from Perez was the wrong move.

"As a parent, it's a scary time," Jeff said. "One of the things Kylee loved was family trips on a houseboat. You start worrying about her being around water and losing consciousness. We were blindsided by the whole thing."

But Jeff Perez said, "We knew this was never going to slow her down."

And having parents who supported that made a big difference.

"It was never, 'No,' it was, 'What do you need?' " Kylee said. "They allowed me to get on with my life."

Kylee never broke stride. By the time she was in the eighth grade, she was receiving letters from small colleges. She began reaching out with emails to coaches at bigger schools, "just to get my name out there," she said.

At Alhambra, she was named the Diablo Foothill League's most valuable player three times. Now coaches from big colleges were reaching out to her.

"I fell in love with the way she played the game," said UCLA Head Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez, who is not related. "You could see leadership. She was vocal and active and made others play better."

Kylee never stopped looking for ways to improve as a player.

"She is such a student of the game," Jeff said. "She was never happy just playing the sport, she had to completely understand it. That's not just softball. Whatever you try to explain to her, you see the big eyes looking at you and hear the computer turning over in her mind."

That diligent nature was important in dealing with the diabetes.

Jeff and Sonja became experts about the disease. Their research went beyond the facts, as they searched for role models in athletics who could inspire their daughter.

One rolled through the Bay Area when Kylee was 11. Gonzaga, with star player Adam Morrison, played at St. Mary's. Morrison has Type 1 diabetes.

Sonja took Kylee to see him play.

"They monitored him throughout the game," Kylee said. "His mother was behind the bench and they would test his blood when he came out. It was fascinating and motivating at the same time. Once I saw that, I knew there was nothing I couldn't do."

                                                                        ———

There are no sibling issues with the Bruins this season. The Perez sisters have a system.

"If Briana needs to be put in her place, I will let the other seniors take care of it," Kylee joked. "I'm very scared of her."

Not without reason.

"Oh yeah, I love scaring her," Briana said, laughing. "When we were home at Christmas break, I hid behind the garage door in the dark. When she came out, I jumped out at her. She got so mad. She tries to scare me, but I laugh it off."

Said Jeff: "Once in a great while, they will act like typical sisters, but they are so close. Briana has always wanted to follow Kylee and do what she was doing."

That brought them both to Westwood.

Any concerns the family had about Kylee going across the state for college were alleviated on her second recruiting visit. Inouye-Perez brought in an athletic department nutritionist who told her about other UCLA athletes who had diabetes and how they managed their disease.

80233 — **Perez has helped UCLA reach the Women's College World Series in three-straight years.**

But the main selling point was the university.

"You can't turn down UCLA," Kylee said.

She wasted little time in getting started.

Perez was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team in 2015. She had played shortstop in high school, a position where Delaney Spaulding was a fixture for the Bruins. Perez moved to second base and teamed with Spaulding to be the best double-play combination in UCLA history. The Bruins turned 45 double plays in 2016 a school record.

"They took pride in leading the nation in double plays," Inouye-Perez said.

Upon arrival at UCLA, Perez also quickly established how she wanted to be treated. During one of the team's first workouts, teammate Gabrielle Maurice came to Inouye-Perez, concerned about Kylee.

"We were doing a cardio drill and Gabby said, 'Take a look at Kylee, I think she's running low,' " Inouye-Perez remembers. "I pulled her out of the drill. She came over afterward, almost in tears, and said, 'please don't treat me any differently.' I told her that was fine, but that she couldn't let this happen again."

There have been few moments of concern the past three seasons. Last season, there was one game where Perez felt light headed. She immediately called for a time out. She monitors her blood sugar in between innings.

Perez and her family continue to be on the cutting edge of technology. She wears a special watch attached to a meter to check her blood pressure.

"I have always looked up to her," Briana said. "From the start, it has never been a big deal to her. She has a good grip on it."

It was when Kylee started receiving attention from younger girls that she started realizing that she needed to be a role model. She began reaching out through social media with positive results.

That was clearer to her when Morales approached her two years ago.

"We were getting on the bus and she came running up to me," Kylee said. "It was such a positive moment. I love being able to show support."

Something she should get used to, according to Jeff.

"I remind Kylee all the time how girls must be inspired by how she has handled her life," he said.

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Unbreakable

Players Mentioned

Gabrielle Maurice

Kylee Perez

Delaney Spaulding

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

Unbreakable

Players Mentioned

Gabrielle Maurice

Kylee Perez

Delaney Spaulding

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