MILES, TX—Last year Miles’ five-sport freshman star Skyler Brooks grabbed some attention by qualifying for the State Track Meet as well as her dazzling play on the basketball, tennis and volleyball courts and on the softball diamond.
“She does basketball, softball, tennis and track in the springtime,” said Miles Head Softball Coach Matt Jones. “And she’s a heck of a volleyball player too. There isn’t anything she doesn’t do besides football, probably.”
This year, as a sophomore, Brooks has turned into somewhat of a legend throughout the Concho Valley and the west Texas region for the same reason. If you go to any softball game in the Concho Valley, people have heard about Brooks
“She’s the best female athlete I’ve ever seen,” said Miles Athletic Director Charles Boles. “I’ve coached some Division I track athletes in my time and have never seen anyone as athletic as her.”
When asked about how she manages to find the time for all these sports, Brooks cracked a grin and said, “It’s busy, but it helps me.”
It’s not just the athletic prowess of Brooks that has caught the eyes of many. It’s the knowledge of each sport that has drawn attention to Brooks.
For example, in the Lady Bulldog’s 12-5 win over Ozona on Friday with the ferocious wind and dust making life a nightmare for fielders, Brooks fielded a ground ball at shortstop with the bases loaded, bobbled it and, rather than force a play home or across to first base where it may become an error, she took the smart play and got the lead runner at third without any hesitation.
In a lot of cases, underclassmen tend to be timid and indecisive or gung-ho and error prone. Brooks, who plays select softball in Austin, does not fall into either category.
“It’s just doing your best and going to practice every day,” Brooks said. “We have a lot of people here that push you every day in every sport. So it’s a lot of fun. I do play a lot of select ball and that goes back to having people push you. It’s a lot of fun.”
Her ability coupled with her softball IQ has drawn the attention of the Southeastern Conference. More specifically, it has drawn attention from Ole Miss, where the sophomore has verbally committed to play.
No matter the arena Brooks competes in, one thing remains a constant advantage: her speed.
“She has a phenomenal glove. She’s hitting .600 on the year,” Jones said. “She’s phenomenal there. But every single sport she does, she demoralizes teams with her speed. She can do whatever she wants to as long as she’s got those wheels going.”
In their game against Ozona, Brooks used her speed to round the bases after a bunt and an error by Ozona to open the scoring for Miles.
It’s no surprise that Brooks has become a household name as a high school athlete. After all, she is the daughter of legendary Andrews quarterback Booger Brooks, who signed to play football for the University of Texas and Fred Akers in 1978 before bull riding and welding called him back to west Texas a year later.
Skyler has used her dad’s prep career as a “little bit” of motivation to do well in all of her sports.
“He was obviously really good,” Brooks said. “So I want to live up to that as well.”
The Miles Lady Bulldogs have locked up second place in District 5-2A and will close out the regular season with a home doubleheader against Menard on Tuesday, April 17, at 4 p.m.
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