Miller’s confidence shines, on and off the court

CHENEY – The first thing you notice is the name, hardly a unique one except perhaps in this circumstance.

The next thing is the exceptional energy, leadership, and confidence that have marked Kyle Miller’s athletic and academic career at Cheney High School.

Oh, by the way, Kyle is a girl, on her way this basketball season to earning the 11th of the 12 letters she’ll likely have been awarded by the time she graduates this June.

About the name?

“My parents liked it. They thought it would be unique for a girl.”

And like so many female Ryans, Jordans, and Dylans whose parents have ignored the usual baby-name rules, Miller has matured into a self-assured young woman able to deflect all the “Isn’t that a boy’s name?” comments as she grew up.

She’s certainly earned the respect and admiration of her basketball coach, Hal Sautter, who’s had Miller as a full-time starter for three years. He was her junior varsity coach as a freshman before she advanced to the varsity midway through the season.

“Kyle and our other senior veteran, Ceri Palk, are doing a great job leading these young kids,” said Sautter. “They’re very patient, always helping them out.

“Kyle’s the kind of kid you can always count on to be doing what she’s supposed to be doing, whether it’s in basketball, a club meeting, in school, wherever. She’s outgoing and takes an interest in what everybody else is doing. She’s one of those kids who really enjoys her high school experience.”

Miller comes from a basketball family, so her affinity for the sport is no surprise. Her father, Darrell, coached at St. John-Endicott High School for several years, and coached Kyle when she was younger.

“She’s been around the game forever,” Sautter said. “She understands the flow of the game, knows where to be. For the last three years, it hasn’t mattered who we were playing, we knew she’d be the one we need to rely on for points, assists and defense. She always matches up against our opponent’s toughest kid, and she manages to go to the other end and take care of business offensively.”

Miller typically lines up as a shooting guard or wing for the Blackhawks, who were tied for third place in the Great Northern League after seven games. Besides basketball, her other letters have come in cross country and track.

“I didn’t realize how uncommon it was for kids to get that many letters,” she said. “It’s a really cool accomplishment for me.”

The Blackhawks are very young this season, having lost nine seniors from last year’s team, but they’re playing well.

“We’re really confident,” Miller said. “We know we can do good things if we keep working hard. Confidence is a huge factor with such a young team. Going into the season, only two of us had played in a varsity game, so the younger girls didn’t know what to expect. As we play together in practice and games and enjoy small successes, everybody feels more confident.”

Miller finished in the top 40 in the 2006 Washington 2A cross country championships, but she missed the final weeks of the season this year with a stress fracture that kept her off the basketball court for a while, too.

“Our goal was to get her back by Dec. 15, our first league game,” Sautter said. “But typical of Kyle, she did everything she was supposed to do, worked hard and got back two weeks before that.”

Miller hopes for a chance to continue her basketball career next season. As much as she has enjoyed cross country and her track events – the 800-meter run and 1,600-meter relay – hoops is her passion – as she says, it’s in her blood.

And when Sautter describes Miller as a young woman who’s well-rounded and simply outstanding at everything she does, he’s echoing what Miller says her parents and coaches have always stressed: not just being a good athlete, but a good person.