School: Council Rock South
Basketball
Favorite athlete: Brian Westbrook
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: At one of the Truman games a few years ago, one of the girls on my team fell flat on her face in the middle of the court with no one around her. After the game, she was walking in the stands, and Truman fans were laughing at her, and then she tripped and fell down the bleachers!
Music on iPod: I try to listen to a little of everything, but my favorite would be Rock or Alternative
Future plans: Go to college and go into the FBI
Words to live by: ‘Face each day with the expectation of achieving good, rather than the dread of falling short.’
One goal before turning 30: To know where I am going in life.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m really scared of clowns!
Brooke Beidler is the consummate team player.
The Council Rock senior spent her junior year playing for the jayvee but never once complained as she bided her time behind talented seniors. In a tribute to her team-first attitude, Beidler’s teammates – after last year’s post-season conferences - elected her one of three captains of this year’s team.
“Coming into the season, I wasn’t sure she would be a starter for me,” coach Monica Stolic said. “She just worked so hard. She just waited her turn.”
That’s a rare trait in today’s me-first era, but Beidler clearly understands that the team always does come first.
“Obviously, last year was hard,” she said. “Every player in any sport – you want to get time.
“I really do believe, and our coaches make this a main point at practice – every player on the team has a specific job. It doesn’t matter if you’re the starting five or if you sit on the bench the whole game. Last year, if somebody would have said, ‘Would you like more time?’ I would have completely jumped at the opportunity, but I accepted that I wasn’t in the starting five.
“We had a lot of talent last year. They were a great team, and they meshed well together, so I understood that my role was to get them ready for the next game, and that was okay with me. As long as –next year I wanted my time, and I’m getting that, so I’m perfectly happy.”
Beidler is the lone senior in this year’s starting lineup, and while she is not a big scorer, the senior guard has found other ways to contribute. When the Golden Hawks needed someone to slow down a red hot Courtney McManus in their game against Central Bucks East, Beidler volunteered.
“McManus hit three three’s, and you’re thinking, ‘Oh my god, somebody needs to get on her,’” Beidler said. “So instead of watching everything else, I personally need to focus on one player, focus entirely on her.”
In Rock South’s opening round win over Unionville, it was Beidler who once again was the defensive stopper when one of the Indians had a hot hand from the outside.
“I have always been more of a defensive player,” Beidler said. “Every year I have played basketball I have never been the high scorer.
“I figure if I’m not going to score, I have to stop whoever I’m guarding from scoring. I like that because if I can prevent someone on the other team from scoring, I feel like I’m doing my job as a team player. I like the challenge of covering someone and making sure they don’t score.”
It’s the kind of selfless mindset Stolic has come to expect from her senior co-captain.
“She’s a hard worker,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “She’s not the one to score a lot of points, but she’ll guard the other team’s best player. She’s happy to do whatever she can. That’s the kind of player she is. She’s always very positive.”
According to Stolic, Beidler will be the first person to pull the team together when the going gets tough.
“Everyone looks to Alex (Wheatley) a lot because she does so much on the court,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said of her high-scoring junior captain. “Alex would be the leader by example, but Brooke is more vocal. She talks more to the players.”
In an early season game against a taller opponent, Stolic opted to bring Beidler off the bench.
“I went with a bigger kid instead,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “Brooke didn’t say anything, but when she got on the court, she played so hard. I haven’t taken her out of the lineup since then.
“She really wants to be on the court, and she wants to play well for the team.”
Soccer was actually Beidler’s number one sport growing up, but in fourth grade, her dad talked her into trying out for the basketball team.
“Ever since then, I kind of went back and forth between basketball and soccer,” she said.
Beidler played travel soccer for YMS (Yardley Makefield Soccer) and continued that through her sophomore year. She also dabbled in swimming.
“I had to choose between swimming and soccer because there were too many conflicts,” she said. “I liked swimming, but back then, soccer was my number one sport.
“I loved it. I loved running. I think I loved running more than I enjoyed being in the water.”
By the time she was in high school, Beidler had chosen basketball as her sport of choice. She has been competing on the AAU circuit since she was in fifth grade, most recently with the Renegades.
“In high school, basketball took over,” she said. “I don’t know why – it was just something that fit better. I enjoyed playing it more. Maybe it was because it was more active. In soccer, sometimes the offense does most of the work while the defense barely plays, and sometimes the defense gets most of the action, and the offense barely does.
“With basketball, you’re always in it. It’s either offense or defense, but you’re always playing.”
Interestingly, Beidler’s older sister Courtney is an elite swimmer who received a scholarship to the University of Michigan. Brooke admits there is some pressure involved in being Courtney’s younger sibling.
“Obviously from my peers – yes, it’s a lot to live up to, but Courtney is great about it,” Brooke said. “She is so supportive of everything that I do. She texts me before and after every game. She’s always been so supportive, and so are my parents.
“My parents let me completely choose. That was before Courtney was anything huge. Now when I look back, I’m like – thank god I did not stick with swimming because that would have been tough. It worked out.”
Beidler has been a part of Rock South’s program since she was a freshman when the varsity endured a five-win season. One year later, Stolic took over the helm, and the Golden Hawks have become a force to be reckoned with. Last year, they earned a berth in the state tournament.
Beyond the success on the court, the players have developed a special camaraderie.
“I feel like when I first came on nobody was as close as they are now,” Beidler said. “We all go out together, we hang out before and after games. Everyone is a lot closer.
“If you like each other, you’re going to play well together. We all like being around each other. Practice is obviously a time to work, but we have fun at practice too, and that keeps it from being stressful.”
This year’s team finished second in the tough SOL National Conference and is one of eight teams vying for one final state berth.
“If you look at our starting lineup, only two of the girls played last year,” Beidler said of fellow captains Wheatley and sophomore Alexis Hofstaedter. “Our team is kind of inexperienced.
“A lot of pressure came with people saying ‘Is South going to be as good as they were last year?’ ‘Are they going to get as far as they had?’ I think everyone on the team has stepped up and shown what we can do. The expectations are high, but I think we’re doing a good job of meeting those expectations.”
Whatever happens the rest of the way, Beidler has enjoyed every minute of the ride, and although she is not planning on playing basketball at the collegiate level, she hopes to compete at the club level. She is leaning toward attending James Madison University and plans to major in accounting/pre-law. She hopes to pursue a career with the FBI.
“I got that from my dad, who is a detective,” Beidler said. “I just think the things he does are interesting, and I always wanted to go into a field like that.”
Wherever she goes and whatever she does, it’s a safe bet that Beidler will be a ‘team player.’
“She just will do whatever she can to help the team,” Stolic said.
And that undoubtedly won’t change any time soon.
