Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Sunday, June 29, 2008

The final carefree summer at home

Brooke Stittleburg and her sister Morgan watch their brothers play Pony League baseball. Kirk Bey photo

By KIRK BEY | La Crosse Tribune

BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. — Remington Stittleburg smiles and calls it payback. It’s 9:30 p.m. on a Thursday in mid-June, and he’s tired. Three hours and 11 innings of Pony League baseball will drain even the most energetic 13-year-old. All Remington and his twin brother, Grant, want to do after playing a marathon game is eat some strawberries and go to bed.

It’s also been a long evening for their sister, Brooke. She watched her brothers’ game from the wooden bleachers along the first-base line — not exactly a comfortable seat even with a blanket as a cushion.

Remington knows the feeling. He doesn’t know how many of Brooke’s volleyball matches and track and field meets he’s watched from the discomfort of the bleachers during her four years at Black River Falls High School. If you ask him, it’s only right that she returns the favor.

The thing is, Brooke doesn’t consider spending time with her family a chore. Not in the least.

She knows she’ll be gone in less than eight weeks, bound for Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill., on Aug. 10 to begin life as a NCAA Division I volleyball player. She’ll be living 6½ hours away from home. Most of the time her family — father, Todd; mother, Kathy; sister, Morgan; and Grant and Remington — will have to watch her matches via the Internet.

But for now, they’re all together in the kitchen of their home. Grant is the hero of the night, having scored the winning run in his team’s 12-11 victory. Brooke is understandably proud of both her brothers. They’re already good athletes as soon-to-be eighth graders, and she knows they’re going to get better.

But she knows her opportunities to watch them and enjoy her last summer of freedom before starting a new phase of her life are slipping away.

“I’m going to miss that opportunity (to watch my brothers play sports),” Brooke said. “It’s a bummer that I won’t get to see them compete when they’re in high school sports. They always came to (my events).”

Home is where heart is

Brooke is a recognizable figure in Black River Falls, a town of 3,600. She’s a 5-foot-9 right-side hitter who packs a wallop, having smashed more than 800 kills between her sophomore and senior seasons. Between 40 and 50 Division I schools sought her services before she committed to Western Illinois in 2007.

She’s greeted by a familiar face as she pulls her father’s Chevrolet Uplander into the parking lot at Skyline Golf Course, where she has a part-time job driving the beverage cart and tending bar. Dave Meyer, a retired technological education teacher and cross country/track coach at Black River Falls High School, says Brooke “was wonderful” as a student in his class. He adds she was fun to watch both as a volleyball player and a track athlete.

Three older gentlemen greet Brooke as she walks into the bar. She says she served them recently, but hadn’t yet learned their names. She promised she would.

“I’d say the best part about living here is the fact you’re able to walk down the street and you can carry on a conversation with anyone you see whether you know them or not,” Brooke said. “Everyone here is friendly.”

Except for a six-month stay in Beaver Dam, Wis., in the early 1990s, the Stittleburgs have called Black River Falls home since 1987. Todd owns his own business selling wildlife nutritional products. Brooke helps him with the clerical work. Her name also shows up on the family’s chore chart. It was her turn to dust the hallways, not a fun project for a house with hardwood floors.

Still, any time Brooke gets with her family is precious. They play beach volleyball at Lunda Park, just a couple of miles from their home. They run together on the Foundation Trail, which winds around town.

And on this night, they’re together eating taco soup, albeit in somewhat of a hurry, and getting ready for a night of baseball. Todd coaches his sons’ team. Kathy will work the concessions stand. Morgan, who will be a junior in the fall, will work the scoreboard. And Brooke is simply content to be an attentive big sister.

“Summer in a small town is watching baseball games and (going to) bonfires,” Brooke said. “This is a typical night for me.”

‘I’m glad she comes’

It’s 5:59 p.m. when Brooke pulls into the parking lot at the baseball field by the fairgrounds. “We’re just in time,” she says as her brothers’ game gets underway.

She chats with her grandparents, who have come from Wisconsin Dells to watch the game, and enjoys a sports drink and a few M&Ms. She takes a couple of calls on her cell phone and glances at a volleyball magazine Morgan has brought with her, but her attention is mostly on the game.

And when Grant races home from third base with the winning run, Brooke stands up and claps. She also gives him a high-five before everyone heads home.

“I’m glad she comes to my games,” Grant said. “It cheers me up and makes me play better.”

Remington is a little more subdued at first when asked what it means to have Brooke at his games (“It’s OK”). But he soon admits it “means a lot” to him that she spent a Thursday night at his game.

Of course Brooke will be at more of her brothers’ games. Not because she has to, but rather because she wants to.

“I really am going to miss my family,” Brooke said. “Some days it’s hard to believe, but I will miss them when I leave.”

COMING IN JULY: Stittleburg’s road to recovery from an injury not an easy one to navigate. This story was the first in a three-part series.

Kirk Bey can be reached at (608) 791-8414, or at kbey@lacrossetribune.com