GTHS Congratulates First Titan Athlete to Sign Letter of Intent

On Nov. 15, Brandice Olmos, a senior at Grand Terrace High School (GTHS), became the first Titan athlete to sign a letter of intent to participate in athletics at a college or university. The varsity softball player, who plays second base and outfield, publicly signed a letter of intent to play softball with Eastern Michigan University, where she has received a full ride academic and athletic scholarship. Having played softball for most of her life - Olmos started playing the sport at age 6 - she knew softball would be beneficial for her in more ways than one. "Since I was little, I knew where softball could take me," Olmos said, following a ceremony held in the school's lecture hall toward the end of the school day. "It's been ingrained in my mind that I could get a scholarship with softball." She said she is interested in pursuing an education and a career in the field of criminology. "I just want to thank everyone for this opportunity," Olmos said. "I'm really blessed and I hope to see a lot of other athletes get scholarships." Olmos and her sister, Melanie (a GTHS sophomore and a pitcher on the varsity softball team this year), have had a busy schedule between school and softball since they began, explained their father, Javier, who is also the assistant varsity softball coach at GTHS. "I've been coaching them for a long time and they've played in community recreation leagues," said Javier. "Once they reached 10 years old, they went into elite travel ball and then moved on to high school." As a freshman, he explained, Brandice began researching and preparing for college. "She reached out to over 30 universities by email," said Javier. Her application was seen by a recruiting coach at Eastern Michigan University, who was also a previous Firecracker, a traveling baseball team Brandice had been a part of. "She saw [Brandice's recruitment] video and called me," Javier said. "She said she loved the video and the fact that Brandice was a Firecracker." In 10th grade, Brandice verbally committed to the university. Her sister Melanie verbally committed last year as a freshman to play softball and attend the University of Oklahoma. Head varsity coach Bobby Flores has also been teaching Olmos since she was younger. As a good friend of the family's, Flores's move to GTHS as a security worker and as the head coach of the varsity softball team from his previous 14 years at Bloomington High School, was one of the reasons the family, which resides in Woodcrest, decided to enroll their daughters at GTHS. "I knew she'd be well coached," said Javier. Flores said, "She's put a lot of hard work to get to this point. She's been doing it both in the classroom and outside." Flores said importance on academics was something highly stressed by the program. "It makes us feel good and proud and it shows what we're trying to do here," Flores said of Olmos's signing. "We want these girls to realize that using an [athletic scholarship] can help them toward a college degree they can use to get any job they want," he said. The hope was that Brandice's accomplishment helps inspire other GTHS athletes, now and in the future. "We are a very blessed and proud family. This is exciting. Hopefully it will inspire other young athletes to continue playing and commit to their education to pave the way for college," said Javier. "I hope kids in other sports realize they can do it, too," said Flores. "It's not impossible to achieve this."