Sports
Hoop hopes achieved: Student prompts Lakefield to install new basketball hoop at park – The Globe
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LAKEFIELD — Jackson County Central sophomore Rylie Cother is a major basketball fan, and her enthusiasm for the sport is a big part of why Lakefield has a new basketball hoop in Corner Park.
Now a sophomore at JCC, Rylie plays point guard for the Huskies during the school year and serves as a shooting guard with a MN RISE team during the summer.
But the story of the Corner Park hoop began a few years ago, when Rylie’s family moved across town. She found that, while there was a park across the street from her house, it didn’t have many features designed for older kids — and it didn’t have a basketball hoop. If she wanted to play basketball in town, she’d have to cross a busy highway to get to one.
The situation wasn’t ideal, but rather than give up, Rylie came up with a possible solution.
“I thought if I went and got petitions and talked to the city council meeting, I could maybe help people out,” she said.
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She spent a week going from house to house in Lakefield, knocking on people’s doors and asking them to sign a petition for the hoop. Then she went to the council.
“She has collected more than 80 signatures on a request to install a basketball court. The court would serve the older kids of the area. The initial installation is a cost but very little maintenance after that,” the minutes of the Aug. 19, 2019, meeting of the Lakefield City Council state.
Rylie still remembers how the council responded to her request.
“They thought it was a good idea, and they were proud of me for doing all this and going through everything for something I loved,” she recalled. “They were very receptive; they liked the idea.”
The minutes are clear on that, too.
“The council discussed the possibilities,” they state. “The council has been looking for ways to improve that park, the idea is well received. Council directed staff to research the costs of the installation of a basketball court.”
The hoop was installed last week, and while it’s not a full court, it is enough for shooting practice, a half-court game or a quick game of HORSE.
And as soon as it was there, “a bunch of people” started using it, Rylie said, whose mother, Vanessa Cother, said she initially left a couple basketballs over there for kids to use if needed.
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Vanessa thanked the city of Lakefield and everyone else who helped make the hoop get to where it needed to be.
“I learned that if you really want something, there’s always a way you can figure out how to get it, and there’s a lot of people who will probably support you through it and help you out,” Rylie said. “You just have to ask for the things you want.”
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