Brookfield/Elm Grove Monthly
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/101452
SPORTS Page 8A ��� Freeman Brookfield & Elm Grove FREEMAN FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Alec James, Brookfield East James a ���once-in-a-lifetime player��� By Daniel Mike James receives all-state honors Freeman Staff BROOKFIELD ��� It would be easy for some people not to like Alec James. There are countless ballcarriers whom the Brookfield East High School senior demolished on the football field. There are the numerous linemen he���s thrown aside en route to those ballcarriers. There are linebackers or defensive backs who tried to bring down the 6-foot-4, 225-pound bruiser when he received carries out of the backfield. And there are several coaches who have seen a game plan blown up. Yet his demeanor makes it tough not to like the guy . ���He���s a guy who���s not talking on the field, he plays with his pads. I have a lot of respect for guys like that,��� said Hamilton coach John Damato, whose team lost 14-13 in overtime to Brookfield East this season. ���He���s got all the excuses in the world to not work hard and have an inflated head, but he doesn���t have that. ���That takes a lot of maturity A . lot of people have been involved in his life who���ve done a great job, and so has he.��� James has been a dominating force on the football field for three seasons. He was the Greater Metro Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year this season and was selected the Defensive Player of the Year by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association. He also has been been selected as The Freeman���s Player of the Year. ���My dad and my mom always told me have to have a backup plan,��� James said. ���Football is nice, but it���s not there forever. My family keeps me grounded and keeps my head from getting too big. ���They always taught me how to stay humble. I get annoyed with people when they���re arrogant, and I try not to go that way. I don���t play dirty. I just try to be myself.��� James had 67 total tackles this season for the Greater Metro champion Spartans. He had 22 1/2 tackles for a loss, 14 quarterback sacks, 19 QB hurries, four forced fumbles and two passes deflected. ���He���s a once-in-a-lifetime player,��� said Brookfield East coach Tom Swittel, who has been coaching more than 30 229758004 Charles Auer/Freeman Staff Brookfield East defensive end Alec James, left, locks up with Waukesha West���s Josh Schnepf during a nonconference game. years. ���But what���s more important to me is that with all the acclaim he���s gotten, he���s truly a humble kid. He���s almost embarrassed by the notoriety. He doesn���t really like the attention.��� Swittel gets the opportunity to see James beyond the football field and has gotten to know the person behind the fierce football player most see. ���I���ve gone on recruiting trips with him, and sometimes my son (T.C.), who is a freshman at East, comes on those with us,��� Swittel said. ���We were at the Notre Dame spring game on the field, players are warming up and it���s a beautiful day. Alec looks at me and says, ���Hey, coach, take a picture of me and T.C.��� ���He���s just a great, great kid. That means more to me than any of the football stuff. A lot of guys go through what Alec has gone through and they couldn���t fit their head inside a room. ���Alec has never changed. He���s still the same kid I met in my first meeting at Brookfield East three years ago.��� James is taking that humble mind-set ��� and fierce on-field persona ��� to the University of Wisconsin, where he���s accepted a scholarship offer, eschewing several schools including Notre Dame. He was anxious to get back in the weight room after East���s third-round playoff loss, a work ethic that has carried him this far ��� and could carry him much further. JANUARY 2013 A perfect pairing Reid, Erwin to compete in national skating event By Daniel Mike Freeman Staff BROOKFIELD ��� Brookfield East High School senior defensive Alec James was a first-team all-state pick by The Associated Press. James, a University of Wisconsin recruit, was selected after being selected the state���s Defensive Player of the Year by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association. Brookfield Central senior Chikwe Obasih, another Wisconsin signee, was a secondteam defensive end. East senior defensive back Brian Smith, who has a preferred walk-on offer with UW, was also a second-team pick. ��� Freeman Staff ���I���m working on my strength and technique,��� said James, who still has to meet with the strength coaches at Wisconsin to settle on a workout regimen. ���We have an amazing weight room coach (Brendan Gonring) at our school, and I know I���m in good hands with him. ���I���m a real hard worker, and I take pride in my work. That���s the main place where you get better in the offseason.��� James has displayed his speed with the track and field team at East, helping the Spartans to back-to-back state championships. He has no intention of stepping away as a senior, either, insisting on helping East���s hunt for a third title. Shortly after the track season, he will head to Madison and begin training with the Badgers and taking summer school classes. While football is what has earned him the trip to UW, it���s not going to be his sole focus. ���I���m thinking about business management, but I���m still trying to figure a major out,��� James said. ���I���m still trying to figure out my backup plan. ���Even when the season ended this year, it was weird because I was like, ���What do I do now?��� I had a week off from lifting, and I didn���t know what it was like to just be a regular student. It was kind of boring. ���I���ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do besides football. Business management is probably the thing, because I want to own something.��� Email: dmike@conleynet.com 228645009 BROOKFIELD ��� Christian Erwin was not always a fan of ice rinks. He received a pair of ice skates for Christmas when he was 5 years old. His au pair took him to the Pettit Center to skate on the oval, and Erwin didn���t like the ice. ���I fell a ton and hated it,��� said Erwin, a 2010 Brookfield East High School graduate. ���I told my mom I was never going back.��� But he did. His mother arranged for him to have lessons, and after time he realized he was getting good on skates. Kenzie Reid���s introduction to ice skating came from her mother, Lisa, who teaches skating and was a competitive skater growing up. Kenzie fell ��� as those new to ice skates tend to do ��� but she enjoyed the ice from the beginning. ���I went with her all the time when she would teach, and I just really learned on my own, skating around,��� Kenzie Reid said. ���I really liked being on the ice. I watched a lot of the highlevel competition, and I fell in love with it and wanted to be like the best skaters.��� As Kenzie Reid grew, her mother coached her into competition. Lisa saw Erwin in an ice show and saw the potential in him as well. ���He was fresh out of the learn-toskate program, and he caught my eyes,��� Lisa Reid said. ���Kenzie was accelerating quickly with ice dancing, and I knew she���d need a partner. He caught my eye as someone I could bring up to speed easily I approached . his mom, and she was all for it.��� The pairing wasn���t perfect at first, but it didn���t take long for the two to adjust and grow into a team. ���In the beginning, we definitely had some differences,��� Kenzie Reid said. ���It was almost like brother and sister. We fought sometimes, but over the years we developed and now we���re best friends and get along great.��� Erwin, who is three years older than his partner, definitely feels the brother-sister relationship. ���Taking that (brother-sister) approach, no matter the obstacle we face, we take it on together,��� Erwin said. ���It���s easy to get mad at each other or go our separate ways, but we have a lot of respect for each other and can work it out. ���We both get frustrated with ourselves in different respects, but we never really had any big conflicts.��� The duo medaled at junior nationals in 2007, their first year of competition. They skated together for two seasons before Erwin stepped away . He came back two years ago, and Erwin and Kenzie Reid won the pewter medal at the Midwestern Sec- Submitted photo Christian Erwin, left, and Kenzie Reid will compete in ice dancing at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January. tionals Championships in midNovember. They will compete in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships in late January . ���Since it���s our first year back together competing, we made it a goal to get to nationals,��� Reid said. ���The pressure is off now. We just want to improve our scores and go out there, have fun and skate the strongest we can.��� It wasn���t an easy road for the duo. Erwin is a junior biology and French major at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee, while Reid is a senior at Brookfield Central. ���We train under very unusual circumstances,��� Erwin said. ���Both financially and having school, it can be tough. We can���t commit to five or six hours a day on the ice and work enough to be able to afford it. ���The way we train isn���t ideal, but it means a lot to be able to come this far, farther we than could have imagined.��� Reid and Erwin are competing against themselves more than anyone else at nationals. Many ice dancing combinations have trained nonstop together since they were young children, while Erwin and Reid have had some time apart. ���We���re hoping that they will at least be middle of pack,��� Lisa Reid said. ���There is a lot of stiff competition. They���re a little bit behind the eight ball in terms of being seasoned at this high level.��� But they���ve made it work, and their unorthodox training style still has them competing at the national level. ���We���re going into this with nothing to lose,��� Erwin said. ���It���s just a matter of putting it all out there and not regretting anything.��� Email: dmike@conleynet.com