BRENLEE MORGAN
OKTAHA HIGH SCHOOL
On the surface BrenLee Morgan is just another skilled, multi-sport athlete at Oktaha High School. The junior plays softball, basketball, runs track and is recently into powerlifting. But in softball and basketball her coach is also her mother, Kia Holmes, which adds a whole new dimension to the story.
“I’ll admit that I’m not very good at being the coach and the mom sometimes, but BrenLee handles it well,” said Holmes. “I think that sometimes I overcompensate to make sure I’m not giving her special treatment because she’s my kid and I’ve even had kids come to me in the past and ask me not to be so hard on her. But the one thing I know about BrenLee is that I can always count on her to play hard and that she really hates to lose. I’ve had players in the past that had more skills, but I don’t think I’ve had any that show the competitiveness that BrenLee does. She’s fun to watch play even though there are times I’d like to strangle her,” laughed Holmes.
For her part, BrenLee knows that the butt-chewings are just a part of being a coach’s kid and she’s glad to have her mom as a coach.
“She talks about how hard she is on me but, honestly, now that I’m older and I’ve played with other teams and for other coaches during the summers, I don’t think I would want to play for anyone else.”
In addition to all of her athletics, BrenLee is also vice president of the student council and is in FCA leadership. She’s always thought of the girls on her mom’s basketball teams as big sisters but remembers one of them whose number 22 jersey she wears as being special.
“I really looked up to Gracie Pendley because she was a lot like me-not the biggest or most talented-but always hustling and playing hard and doing whatever it took to win.”
Being somewhat height-challenged at 5-1 for basketball, BrenLee realizes that her college future is probably in softball and that once she’s there she would like to study marine biology.
