Men’s community softball league
Photos by Liz Garcia
The men’s community softball league in Alliance, Neb. typically plays two games per day, once a week. Jennifer’s father, Jerry, plays for the league. “My dad used to play for the Diamond Hill team,” the farm he works for, “and he also used to play Spartan ball, which is a league for 16-18 year-old guys in Alliance.”
Jennifer’s softball practice
Photos by: Liz Garcia
Jennifer Garza has been playing softball for three years. She lettered in the sport twice during her high school career. Her dad has played baseball, “for basically as long as I can remember, and I figured I would try softball, and might be good at it.”
Jennifer currently plays for a summer league that practices almost every day, and has four or five tournaments. Almost all of her tournaments are away from her home in Alliance. Garza said, “One team we are playing against are 14-year-old state champs and they’re really, really good.” Garza has the opportunity to play softball, a change from the past when she worked in the fields.
Jennifer’s graduation
Photos by Liz Garcia
Jennifer Garza was born and raised in Alliance, Neb. Both of her parents were former migrant workers that began field work when they were about 10 years old. Jennifer also worked in the fields when she was 12 years old. She described her experience stating, “We would get up at 4 a.m., put on rubber boots, an itchy shirt, sticky pants, a big hat, and you would have to worry about snakes, bugs, getting burnt, and at the end of the day, you would be covered in mud.”
Garza is the first person to graduate from high school in her immediate family.
Garza graduated from Alliance High School, on Sunday, May 15, 2011.
UNL Photojournalism 