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Brooke McCarty-Williams is unlike most women’s basketball players, because wherever she plays, her son and her husband are there with her, supporting her on and off the court.
She spoke to Swish Appeal about finding that special person, starting a family and still continuing her career—something that should, and hopefully will become, the norm for all women who wish to choose that path.
McCarty-Williams, who currently is playing for Roche in France, shared with Swish Appeal what it was like to win the 2017 Big 12 Player of the Year award at Texas and how it felt being from Texas yet shining in Finland and Sweden, as well as playing in the WNBA for the Dallas Wings in 2019. Some highlights from our talk include:
A day in the life of a mom-athlete:
Most days we have two practices, one in the morning at 11:50 a.m. and then one in the evening from 4 to 6 p.m. Usually, I’m waking up… well, my husband wakes up early, so he’s the one that gets my son up and gets him prepared, but he has to be at school around 8:45 a.m. so pretty much we’re up around 7 a.m., making breakfast and getting my son ready for school and stuff. We take him to school and then right after that I’m on my way to the gym. Because we have practice at 11:50 a.m., I like to get there a little bit early, because I’m a little bit older now. And so after my practice, I usually come home, eat some lunch, hang out with my husband for a little bit, and then take a nap. I wake up at about 3 p.m. and get ready leave at like 3:30ish p.m. to be at practice from 4 to 6 p.m.. My son goes to school from like 8:45 to 4:30 every day, and so when he gets out, my husband and him come to the gym and watch me practice a little bit and then we’ll go home, make some dinner, hang out, play some games, watch some favorite shows and I usually do bath time. So I give my son a bath and get him all ready for bed. And then we’ll watch some more movies. Then it’s time to go to bed and do it all over again.
On moving from Texas to Finland:
Honestly it was a huge adjustment for me. Like I said, I’m a homebody and I don’t like being away from my husband… Luckily, my two American teammates that I lived with, we clicked instantly and they’re still my good friends to this day. And so they actually made the transition a lot smoother because when I was coming there… I’m coming from heat—100 degrees to below 0 and snow. I didn’t bring the proper attire at all. I didn’t have big winter coats and stuff because we just don’t have those in Texas. So when I got there, I had to do some shopping to get some clothes that were suitable for the weather. But once I got on the basketball court, it was fine. Basketball is a way to connect anywhere.
A special thank you to Nasos Kyriakou of The Players Pick for arranging the interview.
