One day last year, Lailoni Mayfield walked into a Walmart near campus. She asked an employee where the chips were located in the store.

“They told me to check the international food aisle,” Mayfield said. “That just really caught me off guard.”

The subtle discriminatory comment struck Mayfield. Growing up in Cerritos, California, near Los Angeles, she said she was exposed to multiple cultures. Mayfield said that when she travels, she feels unwelcome only occasionally.

Mayfield, a sophomore in Syracuse University’s College of Arts & Sciences, moved across the country last fall to start college. She was homesick. She missed her family and the place where she grew up. Returning home during winter break rejuvenated her, she said. Mayfield started in 31 of the 37 games she played in as a freshman on the SU softball team.

In July, the sophomore tried out for the Mexican National Team. There were 80 high school and college players there for only a few spots. At the end of the eight-hour tryout, Mayfield was the only one selected for the team. She spent a week representing her country.

“When I played for Team Mexico, we were looked at as the team that didn’t have a lot of money.” Mayfield said. “Yes, we don’t have a lot of money. But it was the first time I got looked at as, you know, less in a way.”

Mayfield’s Mexican roots can be traced back to her mother, Miriam, and her grandparents. Her mother was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, a six-hour drive from Mexico City. Miriam migrated with her parents to the United States when she was 18 months old. Mayfield said the transition to the U.S. from Mexico proved so difficult for her grandparents that it resulted in a divorce.

In September 1999, two decades later, Mayfield was born. Miriam was 21 years old.

“For me, it’s immense pride when I think that I could have become a statistic,” Miriam said. “I wasn’t married with her dad. She’s doing 10,000 times better than I was.”

Mayfield is a first-generation college student. When she played on the Mexican National Team, her mother said, that symbolized her growing connection to her Mexican roots. Mayfield said she wants to grow closer to her heritage, and playing for Team Mexico next summer will help her achieve that goal. She said she wants to play in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

“To wear that Mexican jersey is such a moment of pride for me and my family,” Miriam said. “She is an American-born athlete who still recognizes that she is Mexican. That’s a wonderful thing.”

Mayfield is part Mexican and Filipino. She does not speak fluent Spanish — she spoke English throughout her formative years. Spanish was her first language because it’s how she communicated with her Mexican grandparents, who spoke Spanish with her.

Now, she’s almost two and a half semesters through her college career at SU. She knows there “aren’t a lot of Mexicans here at all.”

“It would be nice if Syracuse recruited more Mexicans to the school,” Mayfield said.

Dr. Richard E. Lapchick, president of The Institute for Sport and Social Justice, said there is a “very small percentage” of college athletes, coaches, administrators and athletic directors who are Latino.

“There’s not much of an expectation to have a large percentage of Latinos in Division I,” Lapchick said.

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Early this year, his Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport released the 2017 College Sport Racial and Gender Report Card. Of the total male student-athlete population across Divisions I, II and III in the 2016-17 academic year, Latinos represented 5.7 percent. Of the total female student-athletes across all divisions, Latinas represented 5.2 percent.

“Whenever a coach of color is hired, any student athlete of color will feel the process of inclusion is opening,” he said. “There has to be a diverse pool of candidates mandated by the NCAA or the university itself to better foster inclusivity in college athletics.”

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To continually embrace her heritage, Mayfield said she puts her family and Christianity at the forefront. Every night, she talks with her mother over FaceTime. She helps her younger brother, Nathan, on his homework and baseball swing. She attends North Central Church on Buckley Road in Syracuse. She has the app, “Sprinkle of Jesus,” with the long-term vision that she can “use religion to positively impact the world.”

Moving forward, Mayfield said she plans to get dual citizenship — the U.S. and Mexico — so that she can travel to compete for Team Mexico.

“I pray for her every night,” Miriam said. “When we FaceTime at the end of the day, we focus on the positive thing that happened that day. I tell her to think back to her 9-year-old-self and what she was dreaming about then. She’s living it now.”

Published on September 20, 2018 at 12:45 am

Contact Matthew: [email protected] | @MatthewGut21