Ka Ka Caliente

Kaka Caliente was born in a poor village near San Paulo, Brazil. She and her twin sister, Marta, spent their days playing soccer in the streets. While they were still young, all of the villagers thought it was cute to see girls mixing it up with the boys. But as they grew older, they were made fun of and eventually shunned.

Marta, the smarter and more calculating of the sisters, hid her tomboy sensibilities, escaping the shaming judgment from her family. But Kaka, the more fiery of the two, was enraged at the thought of people frowning on her passion and ran away from home. She stowed away aboard a ship to the United States, and was off to see her beloved national team, Brazil, play in the World Cup.

Brazil samba-ed its way to the finals in Pasadena, CA and Kaka cha cha’d her way to a campground nearby. It was filled with soccer-crazed fans, and Kaka quickly spotted a pick up soccer game. She strolled over and was thrilled to find that the women on the pitch outnumbered the men. She also learned that they, too, were Brazil fans who had traveled from Indiana to watch the match.

Instant friendships ensued and they invited her back to their home state of Indiana to play on the famous Brood X Soccer Club.

Now, while Kaka’s passion revolved around a soccer ball, she was known for straying from her beloved game to dabble in other team sports.

One night while playing soccer at the Sportsplex, she looked up to shoot the ball… and through the net, she saw women, tough–looking women, skating around the basketball court behind the goal. Her eyes opened wide, “I want to do that!”

She rocketed the ball into the net and followed it, right through the goal and onto the track!

Kaka can still be seen juggling a soccer ball or playing pick-up soccer now and then, but the lure of a wheel-based sport has captured her attention…..for now.