All across the state of Minnesota, kids dream of playing sports on the brightest stages. Daydreams are filled with buzzer-beating shots, walk-off home runs and an assortment of other nail-biting finishes. Historically, very few Minnesota adolescents – outside of sports like hockey – have ever earned the opportunity to turn those well-imagined dreams into reality. That is until the last couple of years. Since the beginning of 2020, Minnesota has seen many of its native sons and daughters not only find success, but excel on the national and international stage. Basketball player and Minnetonka native Paige Bueckers won both the Associated Press and Naismith College Player of the Year awards this past spring while a freshman at the University of Connecticut. She’ll likely be among the prime candidates to be the number one overall selection when she becomes eligible for the WNBA Draft in 2024. Minneapolis North’s and Golden Gopher standout Tyler Johnson won a Super Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last February. Jalen Suggs, a 2020 graduate of Minnehaha Academy, helped lead the Gonzaga University men’s basketball team to the NCAA title game before being selected with the fifth overall pick in the NBA Draft last month. Suggs’ high school teammate, Chet Holmgren, a 7-footer who can handle the ball and shoot like a guard, will follow in his footsteps to Spokane after being the consensus number one recruit in the nation and, similar to Bueckers, has a great chance to wind up as the top pick in the NBA Draft. Woodbury’s Max Meyer was chosen by the Miami Marlins with the third overall pick during last year’s MLB Draft. St. Paul native Sunisa Lee took home the gold medal in the all-around competition in women’s gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics last week, while University of Minnesota heavyweight wrestler Gable Steveson, who grew up in Apple Valley, did so as well on Thursday. However, Minnesota’s recent run of athletic supremacy doesn’t stop at kids from the Cities. Waseca native’s Lexi Shifflett and Shane Streich reached the Tokyo Paralympic Games and Olympic Qualifiers in sitting volleyball and the 800-meter run, respectively. Owatonna’s Peyton Robb will wrestle in the U23 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia this coming November. One could easily argue that the state of Minnesota athletics has never been stronger and the state’s recent representation on some of athletic’s biggest and brightest stages could have ripple effects among local youth for years to come. As is the case in many facets of life, representation matters, with people of all ages and backgrounds being drawn to things they can identify with. This concept extends into the world of sports. Little girls around the state now revere Lee as an idol to look up to an emulate. Basketball players look to Bueckers, Holmgren and Suggs as examples of “one of us” who “made it.” The success of Shifflett, Streich and Robb relays to kids from Owatonna, Waseca and the surrounding communities that it’s not impossible for someone like them from small town America to compete on the world’s stage. Sports are relatively trivial in the grand scheme of life, but they provide an excellent outlet for adolescents to express themselves and learn important qualities such as teamwork, dedication and drive. They also allow for the participation in something larger than themselves and can teach them the meaning of community. At this point in time, the Minnesota sports community is thriving, being supported by young athletes who will serve as pillars of leadership and role models for years to come, both for kids across the state as well as in our own homes.
All across the state of Minnesota, kids dream of playing sports on the brightest stages. Daydreams are filled with buzzer-beating shots, walk-off home runs and an assortment of other nail-biting finishes. Historically, very few Minnesota adolescents – outside of sports like hockey – have ever earned the opportunity to turn those well-imagined dreams into reality. That is until the last couple of years.
Since the beginning of 2020, Minnesota has seen many of its native sons and daughters not only find success, but excel on the national and international stage. Basketball player and Minnetonka native Paige Bueckers won both the Associated Press and Naismith College Player of the Year awards this past spring while a freshman at the University of Connecticut. She’ll likely be among the prime candidates to be the number one overall selection when she becomes eligible for the WNBA Draft in 2024. Minneapolis North’s and Golden Gopher standout Tyler Johnson won a Super Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last February. Jalen Suggs, a 2020 graduate of Minnehaha Academy, helped lead the Gonzaga University men’s basketball team to the NCAA title game before being selected with the fifth overall pick in the NBA Draft last month. Suggs’ high school teammate, Chet Holmgren, a 7-footer who can handle the ball and shoot like a guard, will follow in his footsteps to Spokane after being the consensus number one recruit in the nation and, similar to Bueckers, has a great chance to wind up as the top pick in the NBA Draft. Woodbury’s Max Meyer was chosen by the Miami Marlins with the third overall pick during last year’s MLB Draft. St. Paul native Sunisa Lee took home the gold medal in the all-around competition in women’s gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics last week, while University of Minnesota heavyweight wrestler Gable Steveson, who grew up in Apple Valley, did so as well on Thursday.
However, Minnesota’s recent run of athletic supremacy doesn’t stop at kids from the Cities. Waseca native’s Lexi Shifflett and Shane Streich reached the Tokyo Paralympic Games and Olympic Qualifiers in sitting volleyball and the 800-meter run, respectively. Owatonna’s Peyton Robb will wrestle in the U23 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia this coming November.
One could easily argue that the state of Minnesota athletics has never been stronger and the state’s recent representation on some of athletic’s biggest and brightest stages could have ripple effects among local youth for years to come. As is the case in many facets of life, representation matters, with people of all ages and backgrounds being drawn to things they can identify with.
This concept extends into the world of sports. Little girls around the state now revere Lee as an idol to look up to an emulate. Basketball players look to Bueckers, Holmgren and Suggs as examples of “one of us” who “made it.” The success of Shifflett, Streich and Robb relays to kids from Owatonna, Waseca and the surrounding communities that it’s not impossible for someone like them from small town America to compete on the world’s stage.
Sports are relatively trivial in the grand scheme of life, but they provide an excellent outlet for adolescents to express themselves and learn important qualities such as teamwork, dedication and drive. They also allow for the participation in something larger than themselves and can teach them the meaning of community. At this point in time, the Minnesota sports community is thriving, being supported by young athletes who will serve as pillars of leadership and role models for years to come, both for kids across the state as well as in our own homes.
Reach Regional Sports Editor Lucas Seehafer at 507-444-2375. © Copyright 2021 APG Media of Southern Minnesota. All rights reserved.
Reach Regional Sports Editor Lucas Seehafer at 507-444-2375. © Copyright 2021 APG Media of Southern Minnesota. All rights reserved.