With her drive, sophomore Katerinna Rizos secured herself a position in The Cup 2026, a fierce, 10 day international high school softball tournament in the United Kingdom.

Rizos is fueled by her competitive nature, humbly carrying herself with stride on the field and unwavering determination in her ambitions. She submitted her application for an opportunity to play in The Cup with Team USA. Rizos had one goal—to compete in Paris and Amsterdam against Olympic teams.

“I’m extremely excited,” Rizos said. “It’s a lot harder of a competition, but it’s pretty much like we’re playing, but having fun at the same time.”

Combining her sweet tooth with softball, she founded a business, @katerinnascookiecorner on Instagram, where she sells cookies to directly fund her trip.

“Team USA [is] a very expensive trip, so I have to come up with ideas how to fundraise for it,” Rizos said. “I’m hoping that people will continue to purchase them so I can continue raising money for this trip.”

With a smiling cookie as her Instagram emblem, she’s promoting her business through DMs, selling chocolate chip and sugar cookies.

Rizos has been preparing for The Cup both on and off the field. She’s played softball since she was 6 years old. Recreational leagues turned into travel teams, and currently in her second year on varsity, she looks for greater challenges as a drive to improve.

“I realized I needed more competition,” Rizos said. “There’s tough games, but after, we know what we need to work on during practice to prepare ourselves.”

While preparing for the competition, Rizos hopes to practice and build memories during high school. She looks to her teammates and coach as an undeniable motivational system, strongly believing that everyone on the team connects and supports each other.

“You might not be at 100% everyday, but whatever percent you are at, use 100% of that,” Rizos said. “The greater the competition, the greater the drive.”