SHIRLEY — There already have been so many moments that have made Ryan and Carey Willis proud.
Their daughter, Brooklyn, 13, an Eastern Hancock Middle School student, has accomplished a lot at a young age. She’s a straight-A, honor-roll student who plays three sports and excels on the softball diamond.
With the rest of her Indy Edge travel softball teammates, she became a national champion in mid-July, as the Edge won the United States Specialty Sports Association’s Eastern National Championship in Ocean City, Maryland. Brooklyn was named the tournament’s MVP, an added honor on top of the national title.
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It was a special moment for the entire Willis family.
“Obviously, it’s tough to top nationals, but …” Ryan Willis, Brooklyn’s father, said before trailing off.
Somehow, Brooklyn Willis managed to set the bar even higher than a national championship. She did that earlier this year during a different softball tournament.
In April, Brooklyn and the Indy Edge competed in the 3rd Annual Autism Awareness tournament, hosted by the Center Grove Lassie League in Greenwood. Brooklyn achieved a major milestone during the event, an emotional memory for the entire family.
During that tournament, Brooklyn Willis hit her first home run. That would be a memorable moment for any athlete and her family, but this was different.
There was a deeper meaning to this particular home run.
“Brooklyn hit her first home run and came right out to me and said, ‘That was for my brother,’” said Carey Willis, Brooklyn’s mother.
Colten Willis, 10, is non-verbal and is on the autism spectrum. This year’s tournament in Greenwood was being played in his honor.
That made it all the more meaningful for the entire family when Brooklyn smacked the ball over the fence for the first time in her softball career.
“Colten goes to all the practices, the hitting lessons, he’s in the car riding along,” Carey Willis said. “He doesn’t miss a game.”
Part of the team
Pretty much everything Brooklyn Willis does is for her brother.
She is strongly motivated in many ways to become a better person for his benefit. That starts in the classroom. She isn’t just studying hard to make the honor roll and keep straight-A’s for herself.
Growing up with Colten has driven Brooklyn to set some big goals for herself that require a dedication and commitment to her school work.
“I want to be a research doctor because of my brother,” Brooklyn said. “Being around, going to the hospital a lot and wanting to learn how to maybe be able to fix some of those things so you don’t have to take so many trips and find maybe, possibly, a cure for it, so it doesn’t keep happening to kids.”
“Growing up, she lived a different life with having a special-needs brother,” Carey Willis said. “She had to learn things a little different or at a faster pace. I think that goes a long way when you are dealt the cards that way.”
Her drive and her work ethic extends to the softball diamond and beyond, to both the basketball and volleyball courts.
As a three-sport athlete at Eastern Hancock Middle School, Brooklyn keeps plenty busy. It’s worth the time and energy commitment, all the homework done in the car, to be able to share those experiences with her younger sibling.
“I feel like I’m working for two people,” she said. “I feel like I’m helping my brother by getting good grades and playing sports, because obviously he can’t do all that stuff like other kids can.”
Being on three school teams, along with travel softball, keeps the entire family on the move. It’s important to Brooklyn and her parents that wherever they go, Colten is welcomed right along with them.
They’ve found that welcoming environment at Eastern Hancock and with the Indy Edge. They had that with Brooklyn’s previous softball team, the Pendleton Irish, as well.
“When we do our sports and our travel softball, we also look for a team that accepts Colten for who he is,” Carey Willis said. “Our Edge family and our Royal family all support Colten. They are so good to him. They treat him just like a teammate.”
Family connections
No matter where she goes, Brooklyn can’t seem to get away from her family for long.
That’s not a bad thing, given their closeness. Her mother coaches Brooklyn in both volleyball and basketball. Her father is a coach on her school’s softball team.
“It’s nice to have them there for support, and also to help me improve as an athlete in all of my sports,” Brooklyn said.
For Carey Willis, who herself was a standout three-sport athlete at Eastern Hancock and was inducted into the Eastern Hancock Hall of Fame in 2008, it’s been rewarding watching her daughter experience a similar level of success in athletics at such a young age.
“Her work ethic and the level of play these days is held at a lot higher standard than when I played,” she said. “To see her and her teammates just come together and accomplish these goals is very rewarding for her and the team. But most importantly, when we left the ballpark (in Maryland after winning nationals), I told her that she would remember this moment for the rest of her life. I hope that she can build on those goals and accomplish whatever they set out for.”
Brooklyn’s main sport, her main athletics passion, is softball. She plays almost everywhere on the field but considers her main position to be a left fielder. She played five positions during the national tournament in Maryland.
She started playing the sport when she was 5 years old. She was driven toward that, unsurprisingly, by her parents.
“I think what led me to it was going and watching my mom and dad play softball in co-ed,” she said. “I wanted to try that, and obviously wanted to try any new sports when I was little.”
If she isn’t at a game or a practice now — or participating in 4-H activities or hobbies such as photography and rock-climbing — she’s probably trying to squeeze in time to work on her softball skills at home.
That, too, includes her parents.
“If she doesn’t have practice or hitting lessons or anything, she wants to go outside and practice if we’re available,” Ryan Willis said. “We try to help really any chance we get. Any time we’re all available, we try to do it.”
The hard work Brooklyn puts in paid off in Maryland with the national championship and MVP honor. She said that she feels the best part of her softball game is being a good overall teammate, so it was special to her to get the share that experience with her friends and teammates.
“It was pretty awesome,” she said. “It was awesome sharing the moment with our teammates and everything like that. I also enjoyed the experience of going out of state and traveling.”
The national tournament was another proud-parent moment for Ryan and Carey Willis. They are growing accustomed to having those, and it goes beyond just sports success.
They are proud of what Brooklyn has accomplished, of her work ethic and her drive. They are proud of her caring personality and the person she has grown up to be.
“It definitely makes us very proud. She has a great group of family and friends that surround her and push her, whether it’s her teammates or her classmates,” Carey Willis said. “They just challenge each other to go to the next level. I think that friendship and that bond that she has has taken her where she needs to go.”