Tatiele de Carvalho - From men's clothes to Women's Cricket

The sun had yet to rise from its slumber as Tatiele de Carvalho rose from her bed. It had not long gone 4 am in the rural Brazilian town of Pocos de Caldas and as the aspiring young athlete was accustomed to doing each day, she threw on a pair of leggings and a tee-shirt and laced up her running shoes. The air was fresh, but the darkness ensured it also held a sense of menace.

Walking alone in Brazil is rarely recommended and even less so after dark when you are an 18-year-old girl on your way to an empty sports stadium to train by yourself. Tatiele's mother vocally worried that it was just a matter of time before something sinister happened, yet such concern fell on deaf ears -Tatiele had a dream of competing at the Olympic Games and, with her work starting at 7 am, the dark mornings were her only chance.

She was willing to, quite literally, run the risk.

On this particular morning, however, her mother's words rung in her ears. A man lurking in the dark had started to make a beeline for her and she was worried for her safety. "It wasn't like he was just passing, he was actively coming towards me," she recalls 13 years on. "I turned and started to head for my house and he followed me. Even when I reached home, he came all the way to my front door. I was very scared."

For many, such an incident might have led to a change of heart; a willingness to listen to a parent's advice; the extinguishing of a dream. Not for Tatiele. Instead, she found a novel alternative.

"In that moment, I decided that no way will I stop training in the sport that I love; no way will I give up on my dream, but also that I need to find a solution," she said. "So, I started dressing like a man. I would use two pairs of baggy trousers, two men's shirts, and a beanie hat instead of a girl's headband. Every day I would train with these clothes in a bid to preserve my life. I refused to give up."

Tatiele's perseverance paid off. She has gone on to compete at three World Championships, two PanAmerican Games, is an 11-time Brazilian champion, and in 2016 realised her dream when she competed in the 10,000m finals at the Rio Olympics. Now she is using her experience and expertise to help a new generation of young women from the Pocos de Caldas community rise to the top of their chosen sport...even though it's a sport she never knew existed until last year.

Pocos might just be the only city in Brazil where more people play cricket than football; it's certainly the only city in Brazil where the mayor mentions it in every discourse. Home to the headquarters of Cricket Brasil, the sport's national governing body, the city is a hotbed of Brazilian cricketers, particularly females.

Last year, when 14 women's national team players made history by receiving central contracts ahead of the men, nine were native to Pocos. Currently ranked 27th in the International Cricket Council World Rankings, Brazil Women hope to unlock substantial funding by climbing into the top 20 within two years. Current South American champions, they face Argentina, Canada, and the United States in World Cup Americas qualifying later this year.

In preparation, Brazil's national team coach Matt Featherstone approached Tatiele, who had recently returned to the city to train for this year's Olympic Games in Tokyo, about the possibility of giving a short speech to his team in a bid to provide inspiration and, maybe, prompt a little more perspiration. Although she was not familiar with the sport, she had heard of the project and quickly agreed.

"The girls were in complete awe," said Featherstone of Tatiele's first visit back in January. "It was supposed to be for 20 minutes, but it ended up being an hour and 20 minutes. You need to remember this was the first time they had been in the presence of such a big athlete - and not only a big athlete, but a female athlete they can relate to."

Tatiele was invited back and has since taken on a mentoring role with the team, promising the players she will not only help them shave 40 seconds off their personal best over two kilometers, but also ensure they and their families better understand the sacrifices required to reach the top. She meets with them every Wednesday - pandemic permitting - and the girls often arrive an hour before they are expected and stay an hour after things wrap up.

"My mum never supported me in sport," Tatiele said. "She always wanted me to study and work. My family never had this vision of professional sport; it was never an option because in their society sport was for boys not for girls. That's why I love working with the cricket girls because I can show them that women too can change the world; women too can reach the top, like I did competing in an Olympics final. They can achieve whatever they dream. Even the vision of my mum has changed, now she supports me 100 percent in my sporting career."

Featherstone has noticed a big change in his players since starting to work with Tatiele, as well as another high-profile Brazilian athlete, swimmer Matheus Louro. Some players have shedded 10kg in six months, others appear more focused and responsible. It is, Featherstone says, the result of providing access to relatable experience.

"Brazilians teaching Brazilians is the key to growing cricket here," said Featherstone, who recently helped organise a GoGetFunding page to raise money to buy equipment and other essentials that can help the sport further flourish in the continent-sized country. "When Tatiele came along, it was clear that her lifestyle was the same as 95 percent of the girls there so they could immediately relate. She may not be in the same sport, but she has done exactly what these girls want to do - reach the top of their game."

Tatiele, who expects to learn in June whether she has qualified for this year's Tokyo Olympics, added: "My function, as well as teaching them technical aspects of running, is to inspire them and help them believe that they too can be Olympians or world champions. Every day, I can incentivise them because they can look at me and think: 'If she can do it, I can too'."