Ready? Set! Where?
- "Ready? Set! Where?" originally appeared in the August 2024 "Sports" issue of COMO Magazine.
Ready? Set! Where?
Ready? Set! Where?
Ready? Set! Where?
I have grown up around sports my whole life. Although, not in the way one might think. Growing up in Joplin (otherwise known as the Four States), we never had a team that was the hands down favorite. Collegiate football teams from Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri were equally cheered for. Basketball wasn’t really a thing for us. The local university, Missouri Southern State University, didn’t have anything close to the school spirit that Mizzou has. You’d never even know it was game day when the Lions were playing. Of course, the Chiefs did dominate NFL conversations even in the worst of years. For my family, golf was the sport of choice. I grew up on the golf course with my Papa teaching me how to pitch and putt in his backyard.
My kids, however, became sports fiends. All three boys played football from kindergarten tykes and up. I have memories of the busiest twelve weeks of the year with boys practicing and playing seven days a week. With three boys on separate teams, it never failed that we were eating fast food in my minivan parked near the sidelines and coordinating who was with what kid and when and who was going to go locate missing parts to Colton’s uniform. It never lined up at the same field on the same day.
Andrew played tennis and football. Colton, Andrew, and Cameron committed to football even to the point that two of them played semi-pro. Elizabeth tried her hand at basketball. Even though she enjoyed the game, her 5’0” frame (They used to put her in the program as 5’2”) wasn’t built for it. She is now committed to training in kickboxing.
Katie, the baby of the family, has played softball since the catcher’s gear was bigger than her tiny body. She also tried her hand at basketball and volleyball, but her heart always remained on the field.
Whatever they participated in, they learned teamwork, positivity, commitment, communication, leadership, time management, and conflict resolution. I am proud of each of them and love the fact that we still play golf together as a family…carrying on our family tradition.
As sports plays a big part in my family’s life, it does in the life of Columbia. Who doesn’t love the crackle of a Mizzou home football game? The money that comes in from sports tourism funds our city. Even if you don’t play or participate in sports, it impacts your lives in ways you don’t see. I hope you enjoy the pages of this issue. It was fun to put together!
