Brenda Soto desperately wants to win the Orange Coast League in girls' basketball.
Her body doesn't always seem to share the same sentiment.
Soto's right shoulder is in a black brace. Sometimes it pops out of place.
That's OK, Soto tells herself, ignore the pain. Just pull your arm out until it pops back in.
The shoulder brace straps across her chest. Sometimes that makes it hard for the Estancia High senior guard to breathe.
That's OK, Soto tells herself, just come out of the game for a second before it's back to the races.
Soto has a torn labrum and has dislocated her shoulder several times since the summer. Early in the season, Co-Coach Xavier Castellano told her it might be best to sit out until league play began.
"She wasn't having none of that," Castellano said. "She's a gamer."
Soto hears concern from all directions. Her mother, Maria, doesn't like seeing her daughter suffer on the court. Her older sister by a year, Erika, tells Brenda to be careful after Erika herself played through a torn meniscus the last two years.