Winning a provincial award in any sports is a great achievement, and receiving that award from somebody who left a print on that sport should come like the cream on the cinnamon bun.
Kyle Poapst of Stettler is the achiever who received his award with a bonus:
He was named the Mosquito Community Player of the year by Baseball Alberta, and he was handed his award by Tommy John, the famous Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, whose name is not only in the baseball annals, but also in medical history.
Tommy John was the first ever professional baseball player to have agreed to a surgery on his elbow to have tissues replaced by similar tissues from other parts of the body.
Kyle says he has been interested in baseball since he was five years old, but being a member of a family saturated with sports, it is only natural that he is also involved in hockey, volleyball, basketball, football and badminton.
Father Bob Poapst and mother Kim have both been phys-ed teachers, although Bob Poapst has been teaching other courses as well over the last few years; elder brother Joey is also an active athlete as are sisters Kaitlin and Sydney.
Even Kyle’s grandmother and grandfather were quite successful baseball players, according to Kim Poapst.
Bob Poapst continues to coach a basketball team and Kim Poapst is the leading organizer of Stettler’s traditional summer basketball camp among other tournaments.
Kyle admits that his current involvement in half a dozen sports is not likely to allow him to reach stellar success in each one of them and he seems to have already made his choice in favor of rather slower activities.
“I think I like baseball and probably badminton the best,” he says when asked in which of the sports he would like to progress furthest.
And he says he is quite confident with his strong throws as one of the main pitchers of his team, Stettler Sliders, with which he has been associated for the last couple of years.
Having won gold and silver medals at provincial level must have contributed a lot to Kyle’s commitment to baseball and other sports.
Being part of so many teams could normally negatively affect a student’s grades, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Kyle.
“I don’t get 100s in everything but I think I have made it to the honor roll because I got over 80 in everything,” he says proudly, confirming that healthy bodies built up by sports help make up healthy minds.
Kyle says the award he received in Edmonton last month will certainly add to his confidence when he steps into the diamonds next season.
And he says he will always keep the advice he heard from Tommy John as he was receiving his award:
“Think, believe, dream and dare.”