Athlete of the Week – Brighton Young

ROCKFORD (WREX) — Being awarded Athlete of the Week isn't uncommon in the Young family. Brighton Young's brother Austin won the award a few years ago when he golfed at Harlem as well. Brighton always knew she wanted to also win the award.

"I'm proud of myself, my brother got it so it was something that I always wanted to do too, try to one-up him," joked Brighton. "It's always been competitive with me and him so I found out and I was like 'yes!' Me and my brother got the same thing so I was pretty excited."

Brighton has been on golf courses in the area for a very long time, something that most people don't know about the senior star.

"I've been golfing for 13-14 years, most people think I've been golfing for 10 years but I've been golfing for a very, very long time," said Brighton. "It's a family thing. My dad golfs, my brother golfs, so it was like 'Brighton you're gonna golf, so enjoy!'"

As a junior, Brighton competed in five tournaments, and won four of them. In the one tournament she didn't win, she came in second place. Head Coach Brad Sweet was amazed by her consistency.

"It was just a great run for her, she was in a great groove and it led to her going to state and competing at the highest level and making it through that tournament finishing eighteenth," said Sweet. "It's just an incredible experience for her and to see it play out that way."

Brighton has learned to stay level-headed on the golf course, finding success along the way.

"It's all a mindset, I got out there with confidence," she said. "I'm not worried about something I did wrong while hitting. I block it all out."

Brighton Young, blocking out the noise and looking to leave her own legacy at Harlem.