A Coach's Perspective

Happy Anniversary, Talking Women’s Sports! We appreciate the show and congratulate you on your six year anniversary! Reba Sims, Becky Oakes, and Lisa Tinkler joined us as they shared the history, interesting guests and mission of the show. Catch it on 98.7FM on Thursdays from 3-4pm.

Executive Director of the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) Denny Hunt joins us and we preview the upcoming MBCA Hall of Fame Inductions and annual Awards Banquet. Congratulations to all of the inductees and award winners. Visit www.mobca.com for the entire list.

Our thanks to tonights guests - Danita Moore from St. Louis sharing her valuable insights on officiating today and what we need to do in order to retain quality officials. Her encouraging words were motivating to anyone interested in getting into the profession. Coach Mike Keltner gave us his preview and predictions of the NCAA Final Four Men’s and Women’s Brackets. We always appreciate his conversation and opinions. He always throws a good story (or two) into the chat! He is a machine of facts and trivia, so fun! Thank you, Coach Keltner!

Missouri Gatorade Players of the Year in Basketball Hayley Frank (Strafford), and Aminu Mohammed (Greenwood), join us along with Volleyball Player of the Year Birdie Hendrickson (Logan-Rogersville) and shared their insights on their sport. They also gave out some valuable advice to young athletes and we took a peak at their future. All three athletes exhibited positive gratitude for their success and appreciation for those along the way that have helped them on their journey. Gatorade Players of the Year are judged on sport skill, academics and character and all three of these athletes have excelled in each area. Our congratulations to these role models and best wishes in their future endeavors.

Coach Molly Miller brought in six of her Drury Lady Panthers as we celebrated their #1 National ranking, their undefeated season SO FAR, their trip to the Elite Eight this weekend, their defense causing 1,000 turnovers, and I could go on and on with numbers and accolades, but at the end of the day these ladies just love to compete. They love to win and they love to play together. It was evident that they respect each other on and off the floor and have a common vision and mission this season. Daejah Bernard, Hailey Diestelkamp, Paige Robinson, Peyton Richards, Brooke Stanfield, and Lauren Holmes all shared their love of the game, team, and how motivated they have been to be the best team they possibly can be. Each owning their roles and staying focused as they continue to shine Drury in the national spotlight.

We also send a huge congratulations out to the Missouri State University Women’s Team for making it to the NCAA Tournament and winning the Missouri Valley Tournament!

ShowMe Showdown for Class 1, 2, and 3 is in the books and Class 4 and 5 are this weekend. Corey Riggs and Shane Friebe joined me as we recapped last weekend and previewed this coming weekend. Co-host Carter Riggs was a huge help, too! Congratulations to all of the State Champions and teams in the Final Fours - you represented your schools and communities well!

Yes, I have to say it for so my son doesn’t get mad….a special congratulations to Hayden and his Greenwood Bluejays team! Good luck to all of the Class 4 and 5 teams!

What an exciting time of year! This weekend the Class 1, 2, and 3 high school basketball teams of the Missouri State High School Activities Association will crown new state champions, while Class 4 and 5 will hand out titles next weekend. We had the triple threat in studio with Executive Director Dr. Kerwin Urhan, Assistant Executive Director Kevin Garner, and Communications Director Jason West. Go to MSHSAA.org for all of the information.

Spring training has arrived! This strong tradition for so many has become a routine vacation because of many reasons, but mainly because fans get the sneak peak at their favorite players and teams. Coaches get to experiment with different rotations and positions and players get to feel some heat while they battle for positions, levels, and spots on that major roster. It also helps that the weather is spectacular in Florida and Arizona! Former Missouri State University Coach and Athletic Director Bill Rowe joins us along with former veteran Major League Baseball player Lucas Harrell. Lucas gives us his insight into how players prepare and view spring training.

In this episode, we explore the obvious statement of why athletes make the best employees. Joining us on our panel: President and CEO (and presenting sponsor for our show!) from Great Southern Bank Joe Turner, Missouri State University professor and retired Director of Springfield-Greene County Parks and Recreation Department Jodie Adams, and Owner of Creator Designs and Creator Delights Dwain Banner. We explore Christina DeMarias article on inc.com “Seven Reasons that Athletes Make the Best Employees” while each executive expressed the important characteristics of valuable employees. No surprise that the intangibles expressed are the same characteristics that one may obtain from being involved in co-curricular activities. Our panel did an excellent job dissecting these traits and relating them to how they may serve us as we move throughout our career endeavors. My thanks to an excellent panel and their insights!

In this fun episode we learned from former Executive Director of the Missouri Sports High School Activities Association, and retired National Federation administrator, Becky Oakes how YOU can be involved as a team host at this years Show Me Showdowns in March. Listen to the details she gives and call the Springfield Sports Commission to apply!

We kept Becky around and spoke with her, Greg Stephenson, and Dr. Julie Leeth about the new local mentoring program they are involved in called CHAMPS. We learned about the mission, vision, logistics and explored how important it is to have a mentor and even more important to BE a mentor.

In this episode, we first hear from Seattle Seahawk player and former Lebanon High School and University of Missouri standout Justin Britt about his career and how he keeps his career rolling in the NFL.

Then we caught up with former All-Missouri Valley Conference Missouri State Football Bears, Ryan Touhey-who coached after his college career and is now successful in the medical field-and Jason Whittle-Missouri Sports Hall of Famer and 11 season veteran of the NFL and is now successful in Real Estate. We spoke about their time with the Bears and how it has continued to shape them as men, husbands, and fathers. Each one is also a sports parent and is enjoying their new role in sports. Coach Jesse Branch also joined us as our surprise celebrity guest and talked about why he recruited each of these talented players and how proud he is of the men they have become.