Things start early and continue late, but there’s a special touch to sports events in Conway Tuesday.
We’ll see both spiritual and practical aspects of community throughout the day.
Shortly before sunrise Tuesday, Hendrix will host its 17th Fellowship of Christian Athletes Bob Courtway Memorial breakfast.
The far-reaching nature of the event is as long as the name. It’s a wonderful testament to the life of the late Dr. Bob Courtway, a Hendrix coach, athletic director, teacher and community leader who loved to bring people together (often around a meal) for the right reasons.
It has grown to possibly the biggest yearly gathering of athletes from all of Conway’s public and private schools, middle school through high school.
Continuing a long line of special speakers this year will be Rex Nelson, a former sportswriter, political commentator and political spokesman. If you asked him, his great passion is for decades serving as play-by-play man in football for the Ouachita Baptist Tigers. His calls through the years are classic.
Nelson is one of the state’s magnificent storytellers. Few people tell stories that tie the fabric of Southern culture in a more Southern way than Nelson.
His talk will be entertaining and inspirations.
The youngsters might not understand fully all of his culture references, but we expect they’ll grasp the spiritual message.
Tuesday night, the Conway Lady Cats’ volleyball team will host its annual “Dig Pink” night for breast cancer awareness.
The game is big. It’s between Conway and Fort Smith Southside and will go a long way to deciding a conference championship and a top seed in the state tournament.
The cause is bigger. Because of some direct connections through the years between the coaching staff and some players concerning some relatives with breast cancer, Conway was one of the first high schools in the state to host a “Dig Pink” night. Buzz Bolding Arena will be decked out in pink and the Lady Cats will wear pink jerseys. Several fund-raising opportunities, to benefit breast cancer research, will be featured.
Dawn to dusk, we’re going to see a variety of athletes in Conway speaking up and playing for a cause.
A higher cause than what’s on the scoreboard.
(Sports columnist David McCollum can be reached at 505-1235 or david.mccollum@thecabin.net)