From player to coach, George's softball career has her headed to Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame
Bruce Welling may have seen softball talent when he met Brenda Stice as a young girl, but the odds are he didn't predict the success to come for her in the classroom, professionally, and eventually in her return to the diamond as a coach.
The young girl who played outfield for Welling's Diamond Dusters, a Kitsap-based select softball program, went on to graduate from North Kitsap, play fastpitch collegiately, earn two degrees from Seattle University and tacked on a law degree, also from Seattle U. And now, back coaching softball with Kingston High School, she's about to enter the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame.
Now Brenda George is also deeply involved with photography, mainly nature and landscape, works as a lawyer for the Suquamish Tribe, and is raising two sons – Julian, 8, and Landon, 6 – with her husband Andrew George, and athletics still plays a big part of family life.
“My parents were athletes,” says George. “My dad wrestled, and mom (Kris Parks) loved softball. She played slow pitch and ran marathons and triathlons. My mom is impressive."
She's also following a cousin into the hall of fame, a program organized by the Kitsap Athletic Roundtable and set for Feb. 3 at Kiana Lodge. Shawna Stice, who won the state shot put title for South Kitsap in 1991 and was second in 1992, was inducted with the 1991 and ’92 Wolves girls track and field team, which won back-to-back team state titles.
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George had a taste for softball by watching her mother play, and when she got a chance to play, she was more than ready. She made the Diamond Dusters select team on her first try and connected more with the sport through playing at North Kitsap High School. She was an all-league performer her senior year, batting .370 with the highest on-base percentage on the Vikings. She played in the all-star game and was also a combo guard in basketball.
“I liked to shoot," George says. "Honestly, if softball hadn’t worked, I would have played basketball in college.”
Using her bat and glove did work out, though. After graduating from NK in 2004, George walked on at Seattle University, but by mid-season of his freshman year, he had played so well she was given an athletic scholarship.
George played 25 games in her freshman season and did not commit an error. She led the league in pinch hits.
And she improved on that during her sophomore season. She helped the Redhawks make the NCAA Regionals in 2006, hitting .313 with eight home runs and 32 RBI for the season. George hit home runs in both games of doubleheaders against St. Martin’s and was named second-team All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
A year later, George moved up to first-team All‑GNWAC, starting 52 of 55 games and walking a team-high 24 times. She helped the Redhawks make the West Regional Tournament.
George’s nature is to be involved, so it’s no surprise she was the sports editor for the Spectator, the college’s student paper, and interned at the Seattle Post Intelligencer, where she mainly covered prep sports before graduating with a degree in journalism and a minor in English literature.
“I did some professional sports ... baseball was my main interest, especially Joe Mauer; they teased me for it. I wanted to be a reporter.”
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But the law called, and she earned that degree at SU as well. Her work for the Suquamish Tribe takes advantage of her skill in employment law, primarily with the new health clinic that just opened and construction contracts.
George also lifts weights and is getting ready for her second year as a softball coach for Kingston High.
Now, her focus is learning how to be a good coach. She has leaned on Welling, also a Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame member, for that. She likes to pick his brain because Welling coached softball at Central Kitsap for decades.
“She asked how you would handle this or that,” Welling said. “We had lunch a while back in Poulsbo, and the whole conversation was about softball, coaching, and players. She got some of the stuff I used and was very appreciative of it.
“She is going to be a good coach … a very good coach. She has the welfare of the players in mind, academically, socially and athletically.
“She’s a smart person and will put a lot of time and effort into being a coach.”
Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023
The Kitsap Athletic Roundtable will induct the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023 at an event on Feb. 3 at Kiana Lodge in North Kitsap. Proceeds from the ceremony will go toward supporting youth and amateur athletics in the Kitsap area. Tickets cost $50 for adults and $25 for youth (ages 6-12) and may be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com. More information at https://www.kitsapathleticroundtable.org.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Brenda Stice George inducted to Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame
