ATHLETICS ARE FAMILY TRADITION

JACKSON -- The Jim Stoverinks of Jackson recently spent a mini-vacation in Columbia, playing softball. It's been a family thing for years.

Jim, 52, and three of his sons, Jimmy, 28, Tom, 26, and Luke, 18, played in the annual Knights of Columbus softball tournament at Columbia.

Jim, a physical education teacher at West Lane Elementary School in Jackson, played in the old-timers tournament while Jimmy, Tom and Luke played for Jackson's team in the open division. It was the first time the three sons had played on the same team in the tournament.

Softball and athletics have been a part of the Stoverink family's activities all along. Jim, who coaches cross country at Jackson High School and junior high school track, and his wife, Susan, a substitute teacher, have held a spring track program for children for many years.

He says the program lets children begin racing at a young age -- some as young as 18 months. There were springs when as many as 200 children were in the program.

Sons Jimmy, Tom and Luke remember running at an early age, and daughter, Christy Margrave, 21, played basketball and ran track and cross country in high school.

Jimmy, a teacher and coach at Advance High School, remembers running when he was 6, and Luke, who will be a senior at Jackson High School, says he's been running since age 2.

The boys all participated in high school sports -- Jimmy ran track and cross country and played two years of basketball.

Tom, a quality engineer for TG USA at Perryville, played baseball, and a couple of years of basketball and football in high school.

Luke ran track and played basketball and football.

Besides her high school sports, Christy played softball during the summers and won eight medals at an American Athletic Union national swimming meet when she was 16 and a member of the Jackson swimming team.

Jim and Susan also manage the concession stand at Jackson's city pool.

A fourth son, Tyson, has just begun his baseball career, playing in the 7-year-old league.

Jim was an outstanding athlete and competed in the Division II national cross country meet three years in a row for the Southeast Missouri State University team. While at Southeast, he lettered four years in cross country and three years in track, and for a time, he held the school's steeplechase record. He also was on the four-mile relay team that held the record for a time.

At Notre Dame High School, he was voted outstanding athlete and had held the school record in the mile run for about 10 years.

He played baseball through the little league and Babe Ruth league when younger. He also played a couple of years on a semi-pro team.

While in the Army, he tried his hand at fast-pitch softball.

Baseball and softball were always part of the boys' lives.

Jimmy, who will coach high school cross country and junior high school basketball at Advance, recalls his father pitching batting practice to him and playing hot box with his friends during his father's softball games.

He says he couldn't wait until he was old enough to play in the softball league.

When he became old enough, his friends also joined the league.

Tom says he had always gone to his father's softball games when he was little.

Jackson Park and Recreation Director Shane Anderson estimates there are 200 men in the city's men's softball league, 100 women in the women's league and 800 boys involved in the various boys baseball programs.

In Cape Girardeau, there are five types of summer softball leagues that involve more than 1,200 players.

The leagues include two fast-pitch softball leagues for women -- one for women 18 and younger and one for women 16 and younger -- an adult coed slow-pitch league, a church league and a men's league.

Parks director Dan Muser estimates there are about 800 boys in the city's baseball programs.

After more than 25 years of playing slow-pitch softball in Jackson, Jim Stoverink has retired from league play.

Jimmy, Tom and Luke are on teams and play on average two games a week. Jimmy plays for the team sponsored by Budweiser, which is considered one of the better teams in Jackson.

Tom and Luke play for a team sponsored by Bluff City Beer distributors.

This is Jimmy's first year on the Budweiser team, which plays in two weekend tournaments a month during the summer.

Tom's and Luke's team plays in fewer tournaments.

Tom's bride, the former Laura Smith, a special education teacher at Delta, plays once a week in the women's league.

Jimmy enjoys softball more than baseball because it is a faster game. Baseball games take from 2 1/2 to 3 hours while softball games take about 90 minutes.

"If you're playing the outfield in baseball," he says, "it gets boring."

While Jim isn't playing league softball, he says he will select some tournaments to play in. He will play in the two Oak Ridge tournaments and in the Knights of Columbus tournament.

It's the camaraderie of the people at the tournaments that he enjoys, Jim says.

As for the Knights of Columbus tournament, it has become a vacation for many of the Knights and their families. Knights and their families rent all the hotel rooms in the Columbia area. The players and their families attend Mass on Saturday evening under a pavilion near where the tournament is played.

Jimmy, who has gone to the Knights tournament since 1989, calls the tournament his favorite weekend of the summer. It's the biggest and most prestigious tournament he plays in.

Tom has played in the tournament since 1991, although on different teams than his brother.

This year, Jim's old-timers team won the consolation championship for the second straight year. The boys' team placed seventh among the 53 teams.

A week after the Knights of Columbus tournaments, Tom and Laura were married and are on a honeymoon cruise this week.

As for Luke, although this was his first Knights of Columbus tournament as a player, the trips to Columbia are a family tradition.

So is playing softball.

CAPE GIRARDEAU PARKS AND RECREATION ACTIVITIES

* This weeknd: Amateur Softball Association Girls' Fast-Pitch State Softball Tournament for girls 16 and younger

* Saturday: Capaha Classic Road Race

* July 17-18: Men's ASA District Softball Tournament

* July 24: Cape Junior Outdoor Tennis Tournament

* July 31: Youth Triathlon

* July 31-Aug. 1: world Amateur Softball Association Men's Class A, B and C State Tournament

* Aug. 13-14: ASA Class A Church State Softball Tournament

* Sept. 11-12: WASA Men's Class C World Softball Tournament

* Sept. 18: Coors Pure Water 2000 Triathlon