Youth Sports

The Upward Sports League at Little Bonne Femme Baptist Church allows children of all skill levels to get equal playing time in its fall football league. Consequently, the players gain self-esteem and learn the fundamentals of the game.

In his final season in youth football, eighth-grader Zach Reuter is looking to hone his passing skills before he competes for a spot on the Rock Bridge High School team.

A 6 feet 2 inch, 383-pound eighth-grade football player collapsed and died while running a lap at the beginning of practice last week, causing some to ask whether children's hearts should be tested before they are allowed to participate in sports.

The Columbia teen will enter her fourth year of competitive running when she joins the Hickman cross country team this fall. She got her start with the Columbia Colts youth track team in 2006.

The Twister Hockey League, the only hockey league in mid-Missouri, held its playoffs and championship tournament on the evening of Aug. 9 at the Whitney Briggs Memorial Arena.

The Rock Bridge senior is achieving success in summer tournaments.

Les Shaeffer, an eight-year veteran of the Marines, coaches the Neosho United soccer team, which won a bronze medal in the under-6 division at the ShowMe State Games.

Eleven-year-old Stephanie Gregg returns to compete at the Show-Me State Games after she fractured a vertebrae practicing a vault pass in December.

The Missouri Athletic Center's youth swim club, called "The Sharks," concluded its summer meet schedule with the Youth Swimming Championships in Fulton on Saturday.

Unlike other camps in the area, MU basketball camps have seen an increase in the number of participants because of many factors, most notably the success of the team last season.

As part of the Columbia Colts sixth grade football team, K.C. Hinton draws athletic inspiration from his family.

Ryan Schmidt, a 15-year-old umpire for the Daniel Boone Little League, is learning how to endure the heat he faces in the course of his job.

Mikayla Logan and Kayla Funkenbusch, both 12, are on similar paths in track and field.

A program at three martial arts studios in Columbia teaches children the basics of tae kwon do and good citizenship.

Cody Gregory, 17, is the youngest certified journeyman farrier in the American Farrier Association. A journeyman farrier is the highest level someone can achieve in making and placing horseshoes on horses.

Jarrel Hewit, 18, is competing in the Missouri High School Rodeo. For him, it's another step toward pursuing a career in the sport. Hewit has already earned several awards and a full rodeo scholarship to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College.

Nearly 11 years ago, Columbia Pride soccer coach Rick Hess was approached to be the commissioner of the first Columbia three-on-three soccer tournament, a realm of soccer he knew nothing about. Now the event has grown.

St. Charles Vikings coach Keith Marcks is a role model for his seventh-grade boys basketball team. Not only does he voluntarily coach this team, but he also holds a full time job and is a father to five children, two of whom have been diagnosed with Autism.

While most parents had just one or two kids competing in the Show-Me State 3v3 Soccer Tournament at MU's Stankowski Field over the weekend, Stan Porter had 42. As head coach of the Hurricanes competitive soccer club in Waynesville, Porter says he views each of his players as an adopted child.