allow student-athletes to play year round. The high schools that win state titles are those with athletes who play for clubs, said Tippy. “Our kids can’t afford that,” she said. “And, there aren’t any around here.” It isn’t just the game that has changed, either. “You can’t coach kids the way we used to,” said Patty. “They’re different. Their parents are different.” The sisters have had opportunities to coach elsewhere, said Moreland. “They could have gone many places,” he said. “But they chose to stay here and become part of the community.” Patty said she and her sister never had a desire to find another job. “I think it was the people here,” she said. “They were so supportive, and we had great kids. Lamesa’s been awfully good for us. Why would we leave?” The support came in the form of the administration telling parents there would be no discussion about their child’s playing time, that playing time was a decision made by the coach. “That’s been the policy regardless of the administration since we’ve been here,” said Tippy. “We thought every place was like that, and then we found out that very few places were.” In many ways it is difficult to separate Lamesa from the Brownings. “Lamesa was an incredible place to grow up,” said Nancy Renner, who graduated from Lamesa High in 1976 and played for the Brownings. “I remember talking to someone who said there seemed to be something special about people from Lamesa and they said, ‘It must be the water.’ Well, I think the Brownings are part of the water.” The Brownings’ career was characterized by some big numbers, and
Patty (left) and Tippy’s 1986 team finished runner-up in its district but won the Texas 4A state championship.
they’re impressive by almost anybody’s standards. Their record is 937-506 and they’ve driven more than 176,000 miles to and from matches in places like Kermit, Shallowater, Snyder and Big Spring, most of it in un-air-conditioned school buses. But the numbers don’t tell the story, according to Renner. “How can you say, ‘Thank you,’ to them?” asked Renner, who now lives in Austin. Renner decided to be a walk-on at the University of Hawaii, which at that time had perhaps the premier collegiate volleyball program in the nation. “When I told Patty I wanted to play for Hawaii, she didn’t say, ‘You know, there are other places you might want to play,’ ” said Renner, who transferred to The University of Texas at Austin to play volleyball after two years of competing for the Rainbow Wahine. “Patty single-handedly put together a highlight film for me. To have someone support me was so important,” Renner said. “It has formed me for the rest of my life. If there is something I want to try, my attitude is, ‘Let’s go for it.’ ”
The sisters are beloved by the community and by their players like Savanna Rodriquez.
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ACU TODAY
While Lamesa is no longer the power it once was, and the school has dropped from 4A to 2A in classification, the Golden Tornadoes remained competitive. The hallmark of a Browning-coached team has been its scrappiness. “We’ve always been smaller than anyone else,” said Tippy. “But we’ve always fought hard. Other coaches tell us that and it made us feel good.” For observers of the program, it isn’t hard to pinpoint the source of that competitive spirit. “I got a kick out of watching them coach,” said Moreland. “You didn’t have to watch very long to tell that they’re passionate. There was always a fire in the belly. It’s been exciting to watch.” Tippy believes that quality – which is more of an attitude about life in general – was instilled in them by their parents, Harold and Naveta Browning, who were farmers in the Panhandle. “That was our upbringing, I think,” she said. “We were told to put everything we have into what we did.” Patty thinks that same expectation should be made of every coach. “It’s what you do for a living, so you need to be passionate about it,” she said. “But your kids aren’t going to feel the same way about it that you do. I think that’s what a lot of young coaches don’t realize. They’re expecting their kids to be as committed to it as they are.” When the end finally came to their impressive career together, Patty was getting around with the help of a cane and Tippy admitted she didn’t bounce back as quickly from a night game on the road. But they were tired from coaching, not tired of it. On a November afternoon, Tippy made it clear they wouldn’t retire because coaching had become a chore. “When we quit, it’s going to be because we can’t do it any more,” said Tippy. “It won’t be because we’ve lost our passion. If we waited until we lost our passion, they’d have to carry us out.”