City beat - Cape Girardeau, Sports Town USA

By Tyler Yeargain

From the parquet hardwood floors of the Show Me Center to the parma turf of Houck Stadium to the lush, green outfields of Capaha Park, the sports fans of Cape Girardeau have a lot to choose from.

Southeast Missouri State University sports are a big attraction for the Cape Girardeau community. The university is the largest college in a 100-mile radius, and offers choice play venues for each particular sport.

Southeast is a member of the long-established Ohio Valley Conference. The university students, along with the community, give strong support to their teams.

Despite the recent debate on the political correctness of the Indians' name, the term prevails for men's sports. The university women's sports teams are called the Lady Otahkians.

The newly-renovated Houck Stadium is home to both the men's football teams and the women's soccer team. The highly successful women's gymnastics team and the volleyball team events are held at the adjacent Houck Field House.

The Ben Stuber track and field complex hosts a variety of invitational events, such as the SEMO relays, along with Ohio Valley Conference dual meets.

Football at Southeast is very popular. The team is lead by a new coach, Tim Billings. Coach Billings joined the Indians after being successful at Marshall University.

Southeast participates in the prestigious Division II Ohio Valley Conference and is very competitive, often playing teams ranked in the division's Top 20.

The SEMO men's and women's basketball teams play at the $13.5 million Show Me Center, a 7,800-seat multipurpose building.

In 2000, the basketball Indians won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and gained the automatic bid to the NCAA 64-team college basketball tournament. The SEMO Indians have played several nationally-televised games on ESPN and Fox Sports Network, and are becoming one of the elite teams in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Lady Otahkians soccer team was established in 1999, and in the 2001 season the team went undefeated in conference play and was able to host the Ohio Valley Tournament at Houck Stadium. The winner of this tournament receives automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

High school athletics in the Cape Girardeau area also play a big role in providing entertainment for sports fans and competition for students.

There are small 1-A schools all the way to large 5-A schools represented in the sports of football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, wrestling, tennis, cross country, swimming and track and field.

Several of these teams have won state championships and are also involved in state district playoffs. There are also some local rivalry matches and several well-established tournaments such as the University High Christmas Tournament, the CHS Tiger Showcase, the Health South Holiday Classic and the Big Eight baseball tournament.

The Cape Girardeau area is truly a sports area for all seasons. Whether it's a cool crisp fall game at Houck Stadium with the football Indians or a cold, snowy night in the warm confines of the Show Me Center for an Ohio Valley Conference game with the basketball Indians, or supporting your favorite high school team, the sports fan is always the winner.

Yeargain is a student at Schultz School and this article was written as part of an Advanced Literature project.