Avon was at the ‘B’ girls state softball tournament for the first time this season. And while the ride of this season was special for the Lady Pirates team, a void in the bleachers behind the backstop made it challenging for members on the team.
Theresa Culver, a long-time supporter of Avon, and the wife to previous Avon athletic director Tom Culver, passed away unexpectedly in January of this year at the age of 63.
Along with softball being Theresa’s favorite sport throughout the years, three of her granddaughters play on the team in Avon – Macy, Brielle, and Jordyn Voigt. Theresa’s daughter Christena (Culver) Voigt is also an assistant coach on the team. Because of this, the Avon Lady Pirates are honoring Theresa on their jerseys with an inscription on the back with her initials, ‘TLC.’
“Softball's the only sport my mom played, and it was her favorite sport to watch, and she loved every second of going to my girls' softball games,” told Christena. “We talked about what to do with her memorial money.”
The decision was made by Christena and Tom to buy a second set of jersey tops for the Avon softball team, ones that would be more durable. They also decided to purchase new football pants at Bon Homme, because that’s currently where Tom is the head coach at.
“My dad had the idea to have like a real sturdy jersey and so, when we did that, our head coach, Paul Kuhlman, actually said he wanted her initials on them. It's kind of made it a little bit more meaningful, especially to my kids,” said Christena. “It's very special. Every time they play a game, it's bigger than the game. This has meant something to them. My parents lived in town and are so close, my kids saw [mom] almost every single day. She's a very big part of their lives, so this has been really hard on them and a big change for all of us. They miss seeing her at their stuff because she came to everything of theirs.”
“My grandma, she is one of my favorite people - my best friend. Her favorite sport growing up was softball and that was her favorite thing to watch us do,” said Macy Voigt, a senior at Avon. “I’ll always love her. We're doing really well, made it to the state tournament, and this season's for her.”
“It makes you want to play harder because... I know she really likes softball, and I know that she'd want to cheer me on,” added Brielle Voigt, the eighth-grade sister.
For Tom, he didn’t just lose his cheering companion for the games. He lost a wife, partner, and friend.
“There are emotional days, yes, it's only been five months, but I think it means a lot to me, because it means a lot to the girls. The day we handed [the jerseys] out and showed the girls, I mean, they were all in tears,” told Tom. “I spoke at Bon Homme’s graduation last month and, you know, one of the things I said is, don't take things for granted. Life can change in a hurry, so you just got to do the best you can every day.”
Softball is special for Tom as well, because he was part of the process that made it a sanctioned high school sport in South Dakota. And being that his granddaughters love it so much, it’s easy for him to fall in love with supporting it.
“It's pretty cool having those three and getting to watch them play. Macy, the oldest one, we followed her in summer league stuff too, and so it's been pretty cool,” told Tom. “I was “fortunate enough to be on the activities board when we voted to start softball. I guess from my point of view, being on it in that way and then also as a superintendent and athletic director for Avon, I think it's really starting to grow even more in the last couple of years.”
For the three Voigt sisters, the experience of playing together the past three years has also made the experience memorable.
“I really enjoy playing softball with a bunch of people that I grew up with,” said Jordyn Voigt, a sophomore. “Especially my siblings, my sisters. They have definitely taught me some things throughout the years that I keep with me.”
“It's definitely been hard sometimes just because we're siblings and we obviously don't get along all the time, but it's been fun being able to grow with them and then be able to go to the state tournament too,” added Brielle.
As a senior, Macy has enjoyed getting the opportunity to play with her two younger sisters as well.
“I think it's been really cool to play with my sisters. I've gotten to play two years with them out of the three years of high school softball. I've played with the youngest one for two years and the next oldest one for all three years,” she said. “And it's always been nice to be together and it's nice that we're so close in age that we have the opportunity to do that”
Christena also has enjoyed being an assistant coach for her girls.
“It's harder for them to take [criticism] from me, because I'm mom,” chuckled Christena. “That part is a challenge, but they do like that I'm there with them and that we get to do this together.”
As for Tom, he plans on spending the upcoming summers doing what he and Theresa did so many years together – head to the diamond to watch his granddaughters play softball, grandma’s favorite sport.
“Yeah, there'll be a lot. [Brielle] is going to be a freshman, so she's got four more years of it, and she's been playing some summer league stuff too, and I think she's going to play this year again,” chuckled Tom. “It'll be a lot of softball games over the next few years.”
Along with Brielle being a freshman this coming fall, Jordyn will be a junior. Macy will continue her softball career at the collegiate level this next year at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. Tom plans to make the three-hour drive a few times as well to watch her.
