Murphy Soccer coach, mother, grandmother, wife, cancer survivor. These five words describe longtime Murphy High School soccer coach Kim Brownlee.
Brownlee grew up in a rural fishing village in Maine. She graduated from Georgia State University in Atlanta, then began her career in business within transportation.
After spending years in Georgia, her and her husband decided to move to Murphy full time after spending time here at their summer cabin. They made the move as their youngest son was going into sixth grade.
Her children always played soccer. When they moved to Murphy, they wanted their kids to play soccer, but found the program was much different than in Atlanta. So she got involved with the Cherokee County Soccer League and began coaching.
Prior to that, she had only done coaching in recreational leagues, but in 2010 she got involved with Murphy High School’s soccer team. She started as an assistant coach, then became head coach in 2012.
At the time, the high school team was co-ed. In 2016, she split the teams into boys fall soccer and girls spring soccer as the program was growing. At the same time, she also created a middle school co-ed team, with hopes of making it a feeder program for the varsity level of soccer.
Three years ago, the middle school team split into boys and girls teams, same as in high school. Since Brownlee began coaching at Murphy, she has grown the soccer program from one co-ed team on the high school varsity level to four teams on both the varsity and middle school levels.
March is Women’s History Month, and Brownlee is an example of a woman who has had a profound impact on Cherokee County athletics. In an interview with the Cherokee Scout, she dove into challenges she has faced, what the month means to her and women who inspire her.
“I was raised by a really strong mother. She was an incredibly hard worker, I was blessed and she’s still alive. She’s going to be 92 in October and she lives here. So you know, there’s so many things in the history of women, and you hear that women hear it all the time, ‘Oh, you know, you get less money you do this, you do that, you do this, ’” she said.
“We really don’t think about that as women. We honestly don’t, especially younger because we’re just trying to get by you know, trying to figure it out. We’re sensitive females, we’re in school, everything bothers you when you’re coming up through the younger years. It’s until you get out of school, and you go into your career, that you really understand what all that was about.
“So I fought hard in my career, I worked in transportation to become management at that level. And I just was always having to struggle with getting paid. And all the things that you hear about is that you may or may not believe in, it’s true, it happens.
“So for me, when I work with these girls and I talk about the history of our program of what we’ve done as women, the quote that I use is, ‘Never lose your voice.’
“So if there’s anything that I want to say, historically, as a foundation for women’s soccer, and Murphy, even for women, is to be independent, as much as you can to find your independence, to find a way to be able to take care of yourself. And we’ve had so many women over the years and generations who have been role models that have done that.
“To learn from it, you know, don’t become subservient. Don’t, just don’t, because you just find yourself in such difficult situations when that happens. You really have to be independent, so that, for me, that’s my belief. That’s what I try to teach my kids. That’s how I was raised. That’s the history of my life. I’m a 60-year-old woman, so I’ve had a lot of years to see how things go,” she said.
Brownlee spoke about the struggles of being a female coach, but said it’s more than that.
“For me to coach, I’m a 100 percent type of person. I don’t do anything half. I’ve never done anything half. I was brought up to give it all you have. And that’s what I do when I coach,” she said.
“As a result of that, as a woman, what I’ve done is I’ve kind of put my family behind me, too. And it’s kind of sad because I have a grandson now who’s playing soccer who lives in Smyrna. I try to go down and see him as much as I can; this is a little boy that I should be more invested in.
“But I’m invested in coaching. I mean, it’s not really even about a female thing. It’s just about my personality as such. I nearly lost my life not too long ago with brain cancer. They remove the cancer, and so far God has blessed me to keep me still in remission. But I feel like this is my calling. I mean, I feel like this is why I’m supposed to be here is to, honestly, as a female to show these women how to be stronger women …
“When I made it down to the city, and I graduated from college and started working in the corporate world, I realized, ‘Oh, my gosh,’ it just takes so much to be successful as a female. And I got up here, and I’m surrounded by how I grew up, and I just want them to know there’s something more in your life. I mean, you can actually be successful, you can have all of that, you know, you don’t have to settle for just this, you can have this and this and this.
“I just think that, you know, I’m in a really perfect position. And I don’t know, I mean, I know you want me to come up with what are the negatives or the struggles of being a female coach, but you know, it’s just, there’s just struggles in everything you do. I don’t know if it’s male or female oriented, but it’s very political.
“You know, when you get in these sports, you know, it’s just hard you try to be seen, you try to get your sports seen, you want the same fair shake is the rest of them … We raised the money, we work hard, and I don’t know, maybe would have been different if I’d been a male. I don’t know. Because I’ve been doing it for 15 years,” she said.
Brownlee said some inspirational women in her life include her mother, her kids and the girls she coaches, including Bianca Canizio, who went on to play professional soccer for Asheville City and internationally for the U.S. Virgin Islands national team.
Brownlee added that being able to coach, along with her family, is one of the most rewarding experiences she has had.
“You know, I lay my head down every single night and I thank God for my kids. They are like my children. They really have defined who I am. I retired and I moved up here to the mountains with my husband, and you know, I kind of was a little lost because I was very career driven,” she said.
“When I made that decision, I thought it was the best decision for my youngest son to be raised in this environment, more community. I was kind of lost a little bit and scaled back into the home coaching itself getting into the starting with CCSL and then moving into Murphy High School. I look at it as a job though. It’s a job and it’s a very rewarding job. It’s doing something you really love and there’s some years that are great, some years that aren’t so great, that depends on how well they play. …
“And I’m very fortunate that he’s decided to keep me on this earth. And by making that decision, to keep me here, he also gave me a purpose. And I truly believe this is my purpose. This is why I’m here, this is what I’m supposed to do. And I have an opportunity with these kids every single day, teenagers that have come from incredibly difficult, different situations, some have amazing families and amazing support.
“Some of them have absolutely none. I mean, they’re just lost, they’re the lost kids, you know, they have nothing. And this gives them a purpose, you know, they have a team, they have people who care for them, they have a reason to be up here every day, they have a reason to go to school because they want to be able to play. I just know that God gave me that opportunity. And I do truly look at it as an opportunity to be able to bring something to their lives.
“And I try to stay involved in their lives even when they leave. I think it’s really important as a coach to be part of a kid’s life and let them know that you’re always there. You know, maybe I don’t talk to them, I’ll go for weeks, and then I’ll get a little text that will say, I’ll say to how they’re doing in school, you know, just trying to follow through or if there’s questions.
“I do an inordinate amount of reference letters. I mean, I feel
like every year but there’s a reason they come and ask me for that. Because they want my support. They work hard to earn it. They don’t just get it, they have to earn it. And, you know, I just think it’s the purpose.
“So for me, it’s the most rewarding thing ever, you know, besides my husband and my sons and my grandson, which of course is my priority. This comes right behind it, you know, it just falls right in there right after it. I love what I do. And as long as God wants me to do it, that’s what I’m going to do,” she said.
“The day he says, ‘OK, it’s time for you to go on,’ that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna stop but until then, I’m going after it.”