The volleyball standout found friendship and lessons that will last a lifetime in an unexpected place
From her earliest days in the gym with her dad and sister, Gala Trubint has been an eager student.
When she was 10, Trubint and her sister, Mila, played for a local volleyball club, where they were coached by their dad, Bela, a former outside hitter and libero on the Serbian national team. The trio spent nights doing extra lessons on technique, where Bela instilled in the girls the competitive edge of their Serbian culture.
These late-night gym sessions fostered in Gala a lifelong love of learning that helped the San Diego native excel as a health and human services major and defensive volleyball specialist at Southern California. She earned Pac-12 All-Freshman team honors in 2022. An impact player in each of her four seasons, she finished her career with the Big Ten Medal of Honor, presented annually to one male and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each member school for achievement in athletics and academics.
Despite Trubint’s many achievements as a student-athlete, the most important lessons she learned at Southern California came from a surprising source — her friendship with a young girl named Cesily.
“For me, education will never stop. Even when I’m done going to school, I still want to continue to be in a field where I’m learning every day and learning from other people, from people’s experiences,” Trubint said, “which is also why I wanted to be a part of Team IMPACT.”
Team IMPACT matches children facing serious illness and disability with college sports teams, creating a long-term, life-changing experience for everyone involved.
The NCAA partners with the organization to match children with teams at member schools. So far, 1,100 teams across more than 400 NCAA schools have received matches.
Just a month after Trubint learned of Team IMPACT and applied for the organization’s fellowship program, Southern California volleyball received a match. The timing, Trubint said, was serendipitous.
The Trojans soon met Cesily, their newest teammate, via video. The energy of the then 6-year-old was palpable.
“And just from the video, the short two-minute video, we were all just beaming with joy,” Trubint said. “Smiles on all of our faces.”
When it came time to meet Cesily in person, the Trojans were smitten. They were already captivated by her spirit.
“She is such a ball of joy and energy,” Trubint said. “I mean, we hadn’t even met her at that time. So when she actually first came to USC and we met her, I think we were maybe more shy than she was about the experience because we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, Cesily is here.’”
“And she came in on her wheelchair super fast. She loves to race on that thing. But she came in, and she was so excited.”
Spending time with Cesily pulled Trubint out of her bubble of student-athlete concerns. It no longer felt like waking up for morning lifts warranted complaints.
“You hang out with your match, and it’s like your whole world opens up and your perspective completely shifts. This person’s having the time of their life and this means the world to them to just be here with us,” Trubint said.
Team IMPACT made it possible for Trubint to learn the lessons that only Cesily could teach.
“I think Cesily is going to be a friend in my life forever. As much as we’ll be friends to her, she’s like a friend to us,” Trubint said. “And so (the Team IMPACT experience) has meant everything. I’m so grateful for it.”
