Boise State Athletics
Honoring Her Second Father
3/19/2026 2:00:00 PM | Softball, B:1 Features
If you ask a Boise State softball student-athlete why she wears her jersey number, the most common response you will receive centers around a family member. You will hear about siblings, parents and occasionally grandparents being honored.
For sophomore transfer Mya Flindt, her choice stretches beyond immediate family.
As a young girl, Flindt wore No. 13, but when the head coach’s daughter of her travel team had that number, Flindt switched to No. 31 as a tip of the visor to her first catching coach Jenny Topping, an All-American at Cal State Fullerton and Team USA Gold Medalist.
She remained No. 31 through her freshman season in 2025 at South Carolina. When she decided to transfer to Boise State that number was not available because it belongs to senior third baseman Hollie Farmer.
Flindt decided to honor Brandan Everett, one her coaches at her next stop in travel ball.
“I met Brandan when I was 9 or 10 years old,” Flindt said. “He was of three coaches on my Sorcerer Softball team in Sacramento.”
Flindt describes Everett as a “second father” and his four daughters as “sisters.”
On January 26, 2025, just a couple of weeks before her first game at South Carolina, she received a text from one of Everett’s daughters informing her Brandan has passed away at home the night before.
Shocked and in disbelief, Flindt call her parents and made arrangements to fly home for the funeral, missing opening weekend with the Gamecocks.
“At the end of the funeral, all softball players who were there were asked to come on stage,” Flindt said. “There were so many of us and I didn’t know half of them. But it was really cool to see how many lives Brandan touched. When he loved you, you knew he loved you. He took you in like a second daughter.”
Flindt’s and her younger sister, Alyssa, a current freshman for the Broncos, were on different travel teams. Their parents Sarah and Stan would often attend Alyssa’s games and Mya would stay with Brandan.
“Whenever I was having a hard time, Brandan was there for me,” Flindt said. “He always knew what to say. I had just talked to him the week before he passed away. I had spent every weekend of every season with him for nine or 10 years and it didn’t seem real when I heard the news. I don’t think it finally hit me until I was back at South Carolina for a couple months. I still have text messages from Brandan.”
When she stepped in the batter’s box for her first-collegiate at-bat a mere 22 days after Brandan’s passing, she ripped a single. Her immediate thought was “I did that for him.”
“He is a part of everything I do,” Flindt said. “Before every game, during the national anthem, I say a prayer to him and my grandmother, who did not get to watch me play much before she passed away a couple of years ago.”
After her freshman season at South Carolina, Flindt called everyone she knew in her softball circle to talk about the possibility of transferring. In a conversation with her mom, she said she wished Brandan was still around because he always gave the best advice. When her mom asked her what Brandan would say, Flindt responded, “Brandan would want her to be happy.”
Once Flindt entered the transfer portal, Boise State head coach Justin Shults was one of the first to reach out.
The desire to be closer to home and the opportunity to play with Alyssa were major factors in her decision to wear Blue and Orange.
But what about the number?
“I wanted to honor Brandan,” Flindt said. “I called his daughters and asked their advice on what to do. He was a CHP (California Highway Patrol) officer when he passed away and his badge number ended in 58. So, I chose that as my new number.”
Flindt added, “I wish Brandan was here to see me wearing 58 because I think it would make him happy. Every time I see 58 when I am putting on my jersey, it brings back so many happy memories.”
Boise State’s leading home run hitter with seven, Flindt summed up Brandan by saying, “You are not going to meet someone like him. He was such a special person. He would literally do anything for you.”
