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By David Boyce

Commentary

MARYVILLE, Mo. - One aspect that makes collegiate athletics so enjoyable is the memories created from one school year to the next. It ties the student-athletes to their parents, their friends, the fans and the community for a lifetime.
 
Years from now, the students, fans and alums who packed Bearcat Arena on Feb. 28, 2015, will recall the magical late winter Saturday evening when the Northwest Missouri State men's basketball team made a dramatic comeback and beat rival Central Missouri 83-73 to claim the outright MIAA regular-season title.
 
"It was the coolest thing to happen to me," said junior Zach Schneider on a hot, mid July day in the conference room at Lamkin Activity Center.  "When we got the schedule in August and we looked at the last game and it was against Central, which ended our season in the most heartbreaking fashion the year before, we circled it. That was the one game you looked at. To do it in front of that type of crowd with that type of support was awesome."
 
It was one of many highlights at Northwest during the 2014-15 school year. Another was tennis coach Mark Rosewell picking up his 1,000^th career victory as a coach.
 
"That was cool to me, but more importantly, was the spring ceremony to honor him," Northwest football coach Adam Dorrel said. "To see how many people he has touched in his lifetime, including myself, was awesome.
 
"As a coach, when I am done, people are going to forget about your record and your wins and losses. I think good coaches like Rosie will always have that support from the kids. They will always come back. It was very apparent to see the heartfelt gesture from the community and all the people he touched along his way."
 
A sense of family from one school year to the next is what makes Northwest such a special place. One example of it occurred over the weekend at former Northwest wide receiver Jake Soy's wedding. On Facebook, I saw pictures from Northwest alum Vinnie Vaccaro with Northwest athletic director Mel Tjeerdsma and Dorrel at Soy's wedding.
 
Soy played at Northwest from 2007 to 2011 and provided many memorable moments on Saturday afternoons with some amazing catches at Northwest. He played for Tjeerdsma and Dorrel. Soy was also an outstanding student, winning the Ken B. Jones award in 2011. The award yearly recognizes the top male and female student-athlete in the MIAA.
 
The fact that some of the athletic staff members and alums took time out of their summer schedule to be present for Soy's special day shows the support provided at Northwest well after the student-athlete has left campus.
 
"We all do a good job of supporting each other," Dorrel said. "I think our kids do a good job of supporting each other. Our football players know the track athletes, the volleyball players and basketball. That is what makes it fun."
 
Senior Taylor Shull knows this well. She will begin her second year at Northwest this fall. Shull transferred from Bradley. In just one season, Northwest has already made an indelible impression on her.
 
Shull, who is from Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, decided to stay in Maryville this summer to do an internship with strength coach Joe Quinlin and work on her basketball game. While Shull and her teammates enjoyed some good moments last season, like the 61-60 victory at Central Missouri, Shull wants the Bearcats to enjoy more success in 2015-16.
 
Despite the struggles, Shull still called it one of the most rewarding seasons of basketball she has experienced simply by learning how to grind through the tough times.
 
After the final buzzer sounds and regardless of what the scoreboard says, it still comes down to relationships.
 
"It is like nothing else I ever been around," Shull said. "The community, the school, the people here are one of a kind. I made connections and friendship here that I would have never imagined. It has become a home to me."
 
In mid July, Shull, Schneider and football players Shane Smith and Collin Bevins talked about last year and what they are doing this summer to get ready for the 2015-16 school year.
 
The MIAA football media day, which is Aug. 4, is my official start of the new school year at Northwest. Coach Dorrel and a player or two will be at Sporting Park noon Tuesday and talk about the upcoming season.
 
Sure, there will be a few questions about last year's 10-2 season that ended with a first-round loss in the playoffs. Despite the disappointing end, the Bearcats shared first place in the MIAA.
 
"There was feeling of disappointment, having our run end a little bit shorter than we wanted to and having to have a talented group of seniors end their careers like that," Smith said.
 
The focus, though, will be on this season.
 
Dorrel said he starts looking at the new school year once winter hits and players are lifting weights. Many of the players stayed in Maryville during the summer and worked out together. They also worked. Bevins is one of about 10 Northwest football players who drove over 30 minutes to work at Clarinda Academy, a residential foster care facility in Iowa that provides residential treatment and shelter care to at-risk and delinquent male and female youth from several states.
 
"Our title is youth counselor," Bevins said. "We watch the kids and make sure they are not doing anything they are not supposed to be doing. It makes you really grateful for what you have here, a structured family. It is eye-opening. It is nice to go in and help those kids and hopefully once they get out of there, they can change their life around and be a functioning member of society. We like to help young kids get back to what they are supposed to be."
 
From working out to going to school to working a job for a paycheck, Northwest student-athletes put in a lot of time during the summer months to make the most of their upcoming school year.
 
"We can focus on our game and help each other," Shull said. "It is a great time to enjoy life and get ourselves mentally and physically prepared to do what we can do.
 
"I am going to enjoy my last season on what God has given me the ability to do, playing on the court with teammates and great coaches and just giving it my all."
 
It is what the volleyball, soccer, golf, cross country, track, basketball, football, softball, baseball and tennis athletes all did in 2014-15. Expect the 2015-16 school year to be just as memorable and the support from the Northwest community to be just as strong. 
 
"It is cool to see your peers succeed," Schneider said. "Just being in the weight room during the summer, you get to see behind the scene that no one else sees. All the hard work they put in. It is pretty special to see it all pay off and everybody support each other when it happens."