Soccer's smallest big fan

Aaron Wickenden Arizona Daily Wildcat UA senior forward Nikki Jones (4) signs 10-year-old Brittany Brooks' jersey after Jones' last UA soccer game Sunday. Brooks, who wears the number 4 for her soccer team, the Fort Lowell Twisters Youth Club Team, has followed Jones' career and gets her autograph after every game and after each season ends.

"I never miss the home games," she said. "My favorite part is watching the game, then waiting after to talk to the girls and Nikki (Jones) and getting autographs signed on my jersey."

Brooks, who has been a faithful fan to the team for three years, ever since her hero Nikki Jones was a sophomore, follows in Jones' footsteps as a forward, wearing a number four jersey for the Ft. Lowell Twisters youth club team.

Brooks had to sit out this season when she had an eye lens removed at the beginning of last month, a very unusual procedure for someone her age, but she failed to let this ailment keep her from the sidelines at the UA games.

"I bring my girls to all the games," said Brittany's father and soccer coach Mike Brooks. "The (UA) players give our girls someone to look up to. And that's something they need because there aren't too many girl sports out there for them to watch."

That has been one of the goals of the UA coaching staff, headed by Lisa Fraser, to build a strong base of support with the community.

"The young players need to know there is somewhere they can play after high school," Fraser said.

Fraser, along with assistant coaches Jen Netherwood and husband Bruce Caris, have worked extra hard over the years to get their name out in the community.

"We've been here a long time," Fraser said. "And our team has done many things to let the community know we're here."

Some of the events the team has headed up over the years include a soccer clinic for physically disabled kids, hospital visits in the spring, a clinic with graduated UA soccer players for the youth, games at halftime for kids and autograph signings after. This year the highlighted halftime event was a shoot-out with Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat.

"I don't know if the girls and coaches realize what they do for our city," Mike Brooks said. "They give us somewhere to go and the kids someone to look up to and aspire to be. Not once has a girl snubbed a nose at a youth. It's not often that you see the love you do from these girls from a collegiate athlete."

The players seem to have a pretty good idea of what they mean to the kids, and one can sense a mutual appreciation between them and the youth.

"It's so neat," said Jones of her "little" fans. "I never thought it'd be like this. I mean, we walk around school and no one knows us, but then the kids, they don't care if we won or lost, they just think we're superstars."

They sure were super-stars in the eyes of little Brittany when the team delivered her an autographed ball to help speed up her surgery recovery. That, along with high expectations to make it out to the next game and the companionship of her dog, who just happens to be named Nikki Jones, helped Brittany be there for Arizona's final games of the season last weekend against UCLA and Southern Cal, where the Twisters were the team's ball girls.

"Brittany is such a sweet girl," said Jones, who smiled at the idea of being the dog's namesake. "Even after her surgery she is still charged and loves soccer. She's how I was when I followed the University of Portland as a little girl."

Brittany and her older brother Brandon, 12, along with other Wildcat fans, have almost a year to wait before the next season begins, minus senior forward Jones, the team concluded its '98 season at 3-12-2 overall and 0-8-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference. But despite the team's losing record, nothing will stop these fans from coming.

"We used to have season tickets for football games," Mike and his wife Catherine said. "But now we come for soccer."

Kate Longworth can be reached via e-mail at Kate.Longworth@wildcat.arizona.edu.