By Kyle Coppola
Incoming Senior Spiking Her Way to the Top at Eustis High
Brooke Fintak
You’d never guess that Eustis High School (EHS) volleyball player Brooke Fintak is relatively new to the sport.
When Brooke was in eighth grade, she started playing at the local YMCA, where her dad was her coach.
“I thought it was interesting and we were winning,” she says. “I ended up trying out for the Eustis volleyball team when I was a freshman and made it. I’ve loved playing volleyball ever since.”
As a junior at EHS, Brooke led the Lady Panthers in aces (47), serving percentage (93.5%) and kill shots (259!) in 2023.
Brooke also plays with the ST7 Volleyball, a highly competitive travel program that won four gold medals in its most recent season. Brooke was excited to be part of the success and a bonded team.
“Outside the court is where the true camaraderie comes in,” she says. “Getting to know everyone on a personal level off the court helps you when you get back on the court.”
Brooke is also a tremendous scholar. She boasts a 4.6 GPA and is involved with honors and AP classes.
In addition, Brooke started out as a volunteer and now works at the Eustis Recreation Department, where she also spends her time mentoring young volleyball players as well as assisting and tutoring young students with homework.
“I love giving back to this sport by teaching, but also love helping kids with their academics,” Brooke says. “I know how important academics are and strive to teach young kids how to balance both academics and athletics.”
Brooke has experienced tremendous growth and is now looking toward the future.
“I am so excited to begin my senior year,” she says. “We have a great group of girls returning. We will have a new coach and things are looking up for the Lady Panthers in 2024.”
Brooke has a great support system in her father, Rob, mother, Jennifer, and younger brother, Zachary.
Brooke is looking forward to supporting her basketball-playing brother, who will be a freshman at EHS for the 2024/2025 school year.
“I love my little brother,” she says. “I make sure to set an example as an older sister, so he sees all the hard work athletically and academically.”
When it comes to hard work, Brooke embraces it on and off the court.
When asked her advice for kids getting into the sport of volleyball, Brooke says: “My advice is that nothing comes easy, and you have to work towards everything to achieve your goals. Never give up. It wasn’t easy for me when I first started playing volleyball. But like anything if you practice hard enough and believe in yourself, anything is possible.”
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
