Brooke Thomsen '19 Recruiting Profile

I started basketball when I was in 4^th grade in a Junior Hoopsters program. Once I touched the basketball I instantly loved the idea of the game. As I grew as a player I found myself growing in not only my skills but also with who I was becoming as a person. Through basketball, I have learned how to work hard, loyalty, patience, leadership, and I have grown mental toughness through the game. It is basketball that has made me a better athlete no matter what sport is in season whether volleyball, softball, golf, or track.

Hard work is one of my characteristics that I feel has always been part of me. Even when I was little I always tried my best whether that be on or off the court. I work hard to get better for my team and I am always studying to keep my grades up in school. Loyalty is the skill that I have probably seen the most in this year’s basketball season. When we got our new coach this year he truly taught us how the team is like our second family and has showed how to stay together and how to push each other in practice.

Patience and mental toughness have been barriers for me in the past that I have had to face when it came to basketball. Mental toughness because I personally did not take criticism very well due to a lack of confidence in believing I could do better. I always got the image in my head that every time my coach yelled at me he was disappointed in me or he thought that I couldn’t do it. I learned that when a coach yells at you he isn’t doing it to hurt you, but rather to pick you up because they believe in you and know you can do better. That was my turning point when I became coachable and accountable for my skills and how I respond in the face of adversity. With that change I learned more patience. Patience to wait for when the time was right to be brought up to varsity my sophomore year. Patience while I worked my skills to be sharper. Patience to run RTR’s game and control the pace.

The beginning of the 2017-2018 season RTR had one of the 50 best players in Minnesota on our team. She tore her ACL during a game at not quite the midseason mark. I honestly didn’t know how the team was going to respond. Many thought that we weren’t going to win another game because we were dependent on her with many aspects of the game. Instead, the opposite has occurred. Through a lot of hard work, communication, and learning to trust every team member to do their job, I have evolved into a team leader. I learned how to control the ball better and put the full court into perspective.

Through these things that I have learned in my athletic career I know that I will continue to grow as a basketball player and become the best person that I can be.