Tijuana, August 29.—The perseverance and speed of a group of women has opened up a new sporting panorama for the Rarámuri: basketball. With the Mukí Sematí team, the community known for its endurance in long-distance running recently won Mexico a silver medal in the women's basketball category at the Indigenous Masters Games; a medal that could serve as a turning point for including this population in new disciplines.
“I want this medal to inspire new generations, to inspire more people to genuinely care about us,” said Lorena Díaz, a law student, after being the captain of the first Rarámuri women's team to win an international basketball medal.
Mukí Sematí—beautiful woman, in Tarahumara—was the name of the team chosen by the 10 players to participate in the Indigenous Masters Games in Ottawa, where they reached the final and faced the representative of New Zealand. Now, this team has achieved historic success and opens the door for other basketball players from this community to join in the future with the possibility of replicating the feat.
The project was born from the idea of Sergio Hernández, a high-performance athletics coach. The strategist had already participated with runners in previous editions of the Indigenous Masters Games, and after President Claudia Sheinbaum designated 2025 as the Year of the Indigenous Woman, he envisioned an inclusive team
