FACTOIDS
Full Name: Brooke Hanson
Nickname: Chook
Birthday: March 18, 1978
Height: 175 cm
Hometown: Mitcham, VIC
Sports: Swimming
Brooke Hanson is one of the most sought after female athletes in Australia with her legendry smile and bubbly personality. She has completed many corporate speaking engagements, launches and appearances in the past few years and has a great story to tell.
Formerly Brooke Niles, she started her beach career playing with two former college teammates, then began playing with Sarah Straton during the 2005 season. Hanson finished ranked 13th in terms of points as she had her three best tournament finishes that season in the biggest events of the year. She was fourth in digs (855) and seventh in aces (74).
In 2006 she was third on the Tour in digs (5.79 per game) and ninth in aces (.67 per game) while logging her third straight year as a top 32 player.
Hanson was a four-year letterwinner at UC-Santa Barbara where she played every position except for middle blocker. She was a third-team All-American her senior year (2002) while ranking third nationally in assists. As an outside hitter, she was named the Big West Freshman of the Year in 1999, and three times was selected to the all-conference team. Graduating with a degree in Law and Society, she left the school ranked fifth in career digs.
Hanson is the third of four kids, with two brothers (Brett, Troy) and one sister (Emily), and has a pit bull (Roxy). Currently she is an assistant coach at UCSB under her mentor Kathy Gregory, whose 50 beach volleyball titles rank fifth all-time. Also serving on the staff is Angela Rock (27 titles, 15th place).
She was married to Brendan Hanson in December 2005.
