“This can sometimes be hard if you have a 6-foot-5 male versus a 5-foot-2 female,” Groess said. “Being able to change that and make it still easy on the receiver is a big skill that we ask.”

Kaela Helton, a member of Team USA and New York PoNY, agrees that few do that better than Brownlee. 

“He has really good touch and consistency on his throws, and that makes him a really good mixed player,” she said. “When you’re throwing to women, the spacing and timing and how quickly…