Ella Bresee, 15 year old girl from Urbana, was no doubt a warrior. Additionally, she was an influential student, athlete, supporter and above all, friend.
As tough as Bresee was, Medulloblastoma is an extremely aggressive form of brain cancer that ultimately took her life in September of 2022.
Bresee has had a major impact on how the UHS basketball program runs today. The warrior’s toughness, grit, and strength truly highlighted her as an athlete on the basketball court, and the same characteristics were demonstrated in her 17 month battle with brain cancer.
But even as we lost Ella, her spirit lives on forever in UHS.
Eden Colo, lifelong friend and UHS Varsity basketball player, claims that, “Ella’s spirit lives on by being a driving force. Her battle gives encouragement to not only me, but my teammates and helps push us to do our best.”
Colo and Bresee played basketball together for many years. She describes their relationship on the court as lovingly competitive, meaning that they were always pushing each other to be better.
Colo thanks Bresee for pushing her to be the player she is today, taking the lessons that Bresee taught her, including, ‘being kind to everyone.’
Annie Eill, UHS senior and also a lifelong friend of Bresee, believes that Bresee’s greatest gift to the world is the legacy that she left behind.
Eill considered Bresee as one of her very best friends. When asked what difference Bresee made in her life, she replied, “Ella was so loyal to her family and friends, you could always see how much she cared about the people she loved.”
The greatest advice that Eill takes from her relationship with Bresee is to show kindness and be patient with everyone, because you never know what they are going through.
Bresee gave Eill a new perspective and mentality by staying positive even when she had every reason not to be.
Joseph Blaser, former UHS Girls Varsity basketball coach and current Urbana history teacher, describes his experience coaching Ella in her favorite sport. Blaser first met Bresee when she attended basketball camps as an elementary and middle schooler. Even at her young age, Blaser could see her love and passion for the sport, which sometimes spilled into aggressiveness.
She had her moments where she would “bull around the court,” but it was all out of love. Bresee may have been competitive, but she never failed to help a player up if she got knocked down, because that was the kind of athlete she was.
When asked about Bresee’s role as a teammate, Blaser responded, “She was the one you always knew you could count on. She was never going to be one that shook her head at her teammate in disgust if they messed up, she was going to be there to support them and pick them up.”
The Urbana Basketball program honors Bresee’s legacy with the help of the Bresee family. They’ve started a scholarship that’s given out every year, along with an annual “Ella Strong” game with Ella Strong jerseys, and posters around the school.
When Blaser was the Girls Varsity coach, they had a box on their board that they checked off if they played like Ella that night, meaning they played their absolute hardest, to her standard.
Blaser believes that Ella would want to be remembered by the thought of her making them smile and laugh. He claims, “She would want you to remember her making the team laugh about something silly she did, and her fighting spirit to always keep going.”
Though Bresee is no longer with us, her legacy lives on through all the lives she has touched.
Her resilience, kindness, and determination inspires us daily to be, forever Ella Strong.
