Brooke Ellis has been committed to playing basketball since third grade. “I didn’t try any other sports. I stuffed myself with basketball and stuck with the sport. I have wanted to play college basketball since I was young,” she said.
Brylie Ellis had a different approach, trying out multiple sports before landing on one. “I played basketball and soccer before I eventually made it to golf. I’ve been doing it since I was eight and a half,” Brylie said.
Both of them started playing their sport when they were younger, but it wasn’t always that easy for Brylie to stay on track. “I got burnt out fast because it was practice every day. It was hard for me to stay focused and want to do my practices,” Brylie said, “It got boring ‘till I decided I wanted to do golf in college and set that goal.”
Brooke, on the other hand, has always had the mindset of playing basketball in college. “Honestly, I haven’t gotten burned out just because I took it one step at a time, so I did Parks & Rec, then competitive 3-12 grade, and I moved teams three times. Each time I got new experiences, which helped me today,” said Brooke.
She too credits their dad with being a big part of the success in their sports. “Our mom is one of our biggest supporters, but our dad has been a coach for a long time, and he’s always on us, making sure our practices and games are in order,” Brooke Ellis said.
Brylie Ellis said she didn’t take it seriously until her dad helped open her eyes and show her what golf can do for her if she kept working on it. “My dad has always been there to push me, and there were ups and downs, but I realized how my work has paid off even though I haven’t gotten those college scholarships. It helped me realize that what I have done all these years is worth it,” said Brylie Ellis.
Chris Ellis said that his role as a parent is to help keep them on track. “Being there as a parent and staying on top of them and practicing every day and telling them it takes hard work to take you where you want to go and invest their time wisely,” Chris said.
Chris Ellis said that with the girls being involved in many things, like Church, school, jobs, and sports, time management is key to keeping a good schedule.
rooke Ellis said working hard in high school season has helped her earn a full scholarship to Rockhurst. She said her junior season is when her basketball career took off due to new coaching at LSW. Rockhurst started looking more closely at her.
“Constantly after the season they called me every two weeks to see how I was and a couple of months after, I went and talked to the coaches, and they told me what they saw in me. I’m going to be a shooting guard. They like my versatility, and they like how I can play inside and out. They offered me a full-ride scholarship, and I committed on the phone.”
rooke said her and her sister have worked hard for many years to earn their many achievements during their time at LSW and beyond. Brooke Ellis said, “I don’t have to pay anything in college and not to have debt in college is something I’m proud of, and I worked hard for 14 years to get here, and my work paid off. They gave me the best offer out of the schools as well.”
“Every year since going into freshman year, I’ve done the 10,000 shot challenge where I did 100-250 shots that I had to make a day, and my shot has gotten much better, and I left KC in shooting 56% overall, and I was number one overall which is one of my biggest accomplishments. The first team all-conference and first-team all-district,” she said.
According to Chris, by working with the girls he has seen them become more consistent with practicing and working hard every day to achieve their goals.
hris Ellis said, “I work with them four to five days a week either hitting the driving range, or we’re out back shooting baskets. Golf is such an individual sport. It’s pretty much on us to go to the driving range. Also, having to put green and basketball net outside, so they don’t have to leave to practice.”
ard work runs through the family. With Brylie only being a sophomore, she has accomplished a lot for her age. “This year, I medaled in six of the eight tournaments: 12 places or higher out of 70 girls and being all-conference and all-districts my freshman and sophomore year. And being a state qualifier and placing 32 out of 70 girls,” said Brylie Ellis.
through the girl’s hard work ethic, Brooke and Brylie have shown their passion for their sports and have set the bar high for others to come.
