Polanen lives and breathes sports

There are many people who were just born with a love and passion for sports and Yurena Polanen is one of them.

From representing Barbados in Kempo karate as a child to featuring in the Under-16 International Tennis Federation’s lawn tennis tournaments for this country and even playing rugby and now boxing, 28-year-old Polanen does it all.

Born in the Netherlands, she migrated to Barbados at age two with her mother with whom she lived along with her Barbadian brother until the age of 16. She then moved back to the Netherlands but Polanen considers herself a Barbadian by heart.

A former student of St. Winifred’s, Polanen was discovered at a tender age by the president of the Barbados Wrestling Association, Rollins Alleyne, a pioneer in local martial arts. It seems the love she has for combat sport will never die because even after moving to Australia three years ago where she currently works and resides, Polanen, a physiotherapist by profession took up boxing a year and a half ago.

In fact, the possibility of representing Barbados in boxing is a reality the talented athlete is contemplating. She said: “I am training every day and seriously considering my options in terms of if I can maybe fight for Barbados. Like what are my options here, how far can I take it because I’m still new to the sport.”

The impact sport has had on Polanen’s life along with how it has shaped her as an individual is immeasurable. She took the time to encourage any young female that had a desire to play sports not to second guess such a decision. In fact, the kind of values sports can teach young people should not be taken for granted Polanen urged.

“Every phase of my life I feel like I dedicate to every sport. I did a bit of everything, to be honest. You don’t want to be the jack of all trades and the master of none. But at the same time, I really enjoy sport, I always have and I always will. I am always happy to learn a new sport and if I enjoy it I will be willing to do it and compete. For me, I like to compete, so if I am going to start a sport, I want to learn it to a level that I can also compete in it to a certain degree.

“Sports teaches you so much about yourself. It teaches you not to be afraid, it teaches you discipline. I would say do any sport you want to do, do it because you are working towards a goal. You are learning discipline, getting yourself to training, like pushing yourself, your teammates and it gives you a good feeling at the end of the day knowing that you just spent the last hour training for something,” Polanen said.

As the saying goes it is never too late to try something new and after what has transpired during this Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic where sports came to a halt, Polanen advised other athletes not to take anything for granted.

“It is never too late for anything, even if you would want to start at age 30 or 32, I mean not to train for Barbados but for yourself to learn a new skill. You just have to do it because life is too short. As you see we have been locked down for so long, we can’t even do anything. There is no time to waste thinking you are too old to do something. In the end, you just have to do what your heart tells you to do. If you like it you like, if you don’t then at least you can say you tried it,” she added.

Out of the many sports Polanen has done, rugby, one of the biggest sports worldwide, is as dear to her heart as much as martial arts or boxing. She shared some advice on what it would take to develop the women’s side of the game locally.

“I was based in the Netherlands so I can’t speak too much of rugby in Barbados but from what I saw when I was in Barbados, there was definitely a difference in level between the men and women. The men I feel like have a bit more exposure. But I think that the girls can get there if they continue putting in the effort, work together as a team, continue training hard and remain open to learning from new people. Whether it is a coach, player from another country or whatever.

“When I came in 2017 to Barbados we had a fun tournament at the Garrison and I got to play with the girls which was a lot of fun. That way they can learn from different people who have experience from different places. So I think if they were to find someone overseas maybe from the United States who would like to do a clinic, that would push the sport and who knows that may push female rugby in schools because it is now a big sport especially here in Australia and New Zealand and even America,” Polanen explained.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb