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Hometown
Hero
Cinda Brooks, of Spicewood,
Texas, triggers her revolver, takes aim at
a paper silhouette target 25 yards away,
and fires off rounds with amazing accu
racy. Between target practice, the 43-
year-old lieutenant game warden for the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
(TPWD) hits the track, running several
miles with her dog, Rusty.
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Brooks shoots for another title this summer.
All of the shooting and running, as
well as hours of biking and swimming,
are part of a weekly routine for Brooks,
who’s training to defend her title as a
six-time Women's Biathlon Champion
at die World Police and Fire Games,
scheduled June 26 to July 5 in Quebec,
Canada.
Since 1993, Brooks has entered and
won at the biennial competition, where
10,000 fire and police athletes from 50
countries compete in 50 different events.
In the biathlon event, Brooks' specialty,
participants must run one mile and fire
12 rounds of ammunition at a target 25
yards away, then repeat the sequence two
more times.
While another first-place finish
would further her reign as the games'
winningest competitor, Brooks says
she doesn’t compete just to take home
Brooks watches as cadets practice at the Game Warden Training Academy in Austin,Texas.
Bp^y a ” w ~ ,|M V* g W»
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another gold medal. Instead, she uses
her athletic success as a way to inspire
and encourage others—something that
comes in handy as an instructor at the
Game Warden Training Academy in
Austin, where she prepares the next gen
eration of Texas game wardens.
"These accomplishments give me
credibility when I teach cadets,” says the
slender, 5-foot, 5-inch athlete.
She’s an involved instructor, who
gently encourages cadets to overcome
both mental and physical challenges,
whether it’s on the obstacle course or
teaching cadets how to gain control over
high-pressure situations.
“Every person she trains has the tools
to survive incidents where one error can
mean tlie difference in living or dying,”
says her supervisor, Assistant Chief Stacy
Bishop. “She is passionate about fitness,
both physical and mental.”
Recently commissioned Game
Warden Mike Mitchell, who trained
under Brooks, agrees. “She is like a
bolt of lighting,” he says. "Her tech
nical skills and defense strategies are
awe-inspiring."
Brooks’ love of physical activity
came early in life. Raised by mission
ary parents in Tanzania and Kenya,
her family enjoyed hiking, biking
and camping. “We climbed Mount
Kilimanjaro when I was in sixth
grade," she says. “I thought every
body did stuff like that.”
Watching her parents work—her
father a doctor and mother a nurse—
and helping them in medical clinics
Photo: Ed Lallo
SOB
W i 1 ' ®
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Texas Game Warden Cinda Brooks poses with medals won at past World Police and Fire Games.
instilled compassion and a can-do
attitude, she says.
Brooks, who earned a master’s degree
in health promotion from the Univer
sity of Texas, became familiar with the
TPWD when she was hired to teach a
wellness program at the academy. The
active outdoor lifestyle fit her perfectly, and
she became a game warden in 1990.
“Now I have one foot in law
enforcement and one foot in nursing,
since I also teach wellness, first aid
and CPR,” she says.
Beyond her job and competition,
Brooks also works in the community
to motivate young women to “go for
it—do whatever they want to do.” She
speaks to Girl Scout troops and con
ducts workshops for women through
tlie TPWD and community groups on
developing a champion mindset, which
she says requires nurturing mind, body
and spirit.
“I wasn't always confident,” she says.
“Fear of failure kept me from telling any
one the first time I competed, but with
prayer and mental focus. I've learned to
manage fear.” Now, die ability to per-
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Celebrating at the 2001 games in Indianapolis.
form under pressure is one of her greatest
assets, and she strives daily to pass that
confidence on to others.
“My job is to bring out the champion
in others whenever I can,” she says.
For Brooks, that means leading by
example, something she hopes to do
once again at the World Police and Fire
Games, -v
Beverly B/mneier is a freelance writer in
Austin. Texas.
For more information on the
World Police and Fire Games, log
on to www.2ooswpfg.orgleng.
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•American Profile
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