Schools
Minooka Girl Gives Boys a Run for Their Money
Sports dominates the life of this Three Rivers student.
Brooke Brodzinski, 10, 5th grader at
Most girls enjoy playing softball.
In this neck of the woods, it’s 12-inch ball. Some even play 16-inch.
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But one girl never wanted to play on a girls' team. She stepped onto the boys' team and has been playing with them since the age of 4.
Now at the age of 10, Brooke Brodzinski of Minooka is one of two girls that play on a team with the Channahon Baseball League. She was the only girl to make the All-Star Team this year.
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She is a tough player. She is right there with boys on the field, giving them a run for their money.
Brodzinski pitches. Her evil eye as she stares down the batter may be intimidating. She has a wicked wind up too.
She grew up around boys. She has an older brother, Brandon who also plays baseball. Most of the neighborhood children were boys. In her eyes it was the natural thing to do.
“It’s more of a challenge to play with the boys,” Brodzinski said. “I fit in. I know all the boys.”
With sports in her life, Brodzinski, an honor roll student, said there isn’t much else she likes to do, for the exception of drawing and listening to popular music. She draws whatever comes to mind.
So basically her life revolves around her sports. Even when she is playing the Wii- as in Wii Sports.
Brodzinski was a member of the cross-country team this year at school and she plans to participate in the school’s basketball intramural program.
However, she said she loves soccer the best.
On the field she plays defender, mid-field and goalie for the Three Rivers Cheetahs. The U11 girls' team Brodzinski plays for went undefeated this season and won their division this past weekend.
She loves going to soccer games too. She recently attended a Chicago Fire Game at Toyota Park in Bridgeview last month.
“I’m not sure why I love sports, I just do,” Brodzinski.
In the future, she wants to make a career playing soccer. Perhaps one day we will see her playing for the Chicago Red Stars, a professional women’s soccer team.
That’s her goal.
