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College basketball

Referee reflects on her career

Former Lions' basketball star Denise Brooks is this year's Girls & Women In Sports award winner.

By STEVE LEE
Published February 14, 2006

ST. LEO - Former basketball standout Denise Brooks, the first woman inducted into the Saint Leo Hall of Fame, stood nervously at the podium at the Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club on Thursday and conquered her fear of public speaking.

"(Wednesday) night, I said to my husband, "I can't do it. I can't go,"' Brooks said, recalling a conversation with David Clauser about her acceptance speech as this year's Saint Leo Girls & Women In Sports honoree.

Brooks overcame the jitters, though she did say speaking in front of people is more daunting than her full-time gig as a women's basketball official.

"I'm fine with crowds as long as I'm in black and white and polyester," Brooks said of her working attire for NCAA and WNBA games that keep her away from her family's New Jersey home Wednesdays through Sundays.

Brooks is the 13th recipient of a Saint Leo award that began in 1993. That honor coincides with National Girls & Women In Sports Day. The national celebration, initially commemorated in 1987, is a tribute to Flo Hyman, an Olympic volleyball player and crusader for women's sports who died in 1986.

As a 7-year-old growing up in New Jersey, Brooks brought home a trophy for winning a basketball shooting contest.

"This is nice," she said. "I like this basketball stuff."

So much so, in fact, the three-time All-Sunshine State Conference guard became Saint Leo's first 1,000-point scorer and was inducted into the Division II school's Hall of Fame in 1992.

Brooks, who ranks second in school scoring with 1,355 points and is the career assist leader at 406, is the first Saint Leo graduate to earn the award. And her love for the game remains as strong and deep as when she played.

"You women athletes know (officials) really work hard and we love what we do," Brooks said, directing her comments to the school athletes in attendance. "What I do right now, I'm living my dream. Being on the court is not like work."

Brooks began officiating seventh- and eighth-grade girls basketball games in 1988 and worked her way up the ladder. She also has been a referee at the high school and junior college levels.

"I kind of feel like I'm giving back to the sport I love so much," Brooks said.

SPIRIT AWARD: Senior Morgan Mander, a tri-sport athlete and honor student, earned the Elaine Evans Spirit of Saint Leo award.

Mander, a volleyball standout who also was part of Saint Leo's cross country and tennis teams, has a 3.97 grade point average.

She is president of the school's student-advisory committee and is a student-athlete representative at SSC meetings.

The award honors Evans, a former Saint Leo and Gaither basketball standout who died in 2004 of a pulmonary embolism.

WEEKLY WINNER: Pitcher Peter Martinez is Saint Leo's athlete of the week for Feb.6-12. The junior left-hander went 1-0 with a 1.69 earned-run average.

In 13 innings, including a seven-innning complete-game 4-1 win over Newberry, Martinez scattered four hits, allowed one earned run and an unearned run, struck out 18 and walked three.

[Last modified February 14, 2006, 02:45:31]