SIEMER HAS RETURNED HOME TO FIND NICHE

Like many talented young people who leave for college, Andrea Siemer never expected to return home to stay.

Seven years after she was crowned Miss Show Me Basketball, however, the Jackson High School graduate has indeed returned and has found her own niche in the area.

"I remember coming home on break my sophomore or junior year," Siemer said. "Things were a lot slower here. I thought 'There's no way I'll come back here to live.' Now I'm glad I came back I love where I am and what I'm doing."

What the former University of Missouri starter is doing is outpatient orthopedic physical therapy for Southeast Missouri Hospital--exactly what the 6-1 sharpshooting Lady Indian all-stater wanted to do as a teenager.

"During my recruiting process I was looking for a school with a good physical therapy program," she said.

Although only 25, Siemer has already racked up a number of accomplishments. To date, she is the only JHS product to play in the NCAA Division I Tournament, as well as the only Jackson native honored as the top player of her gender in Missouri.

Of course fame is fleeting. Siemer now coaches a girls team in the Optimist Youth Basketball League and finds that her players initially have no idea of her background.

"They just think I'm some lady who likes to coach basketball," she said. "Then eventually they'll see my picture hanging in the gym and say 'We saw your picture in the gym. We didn't know you ever played basketball!' It really makes me feel old."

Siemer isn't too old to still hit the court competitively. Last fall she and several former college players--most from the St. Louis area--scrimmaged with a number of area college teams during the two-week exhibition game period in November. The former collegians took on SEMO, the University of Missouri-Rolla, St. Louis University, the University of Missouri-Kansas City and others.

"It was really tiring, since most of the games were three hours away or more and I work four 10-hour days a week here," she said, "but it was fun. I hope we can do it again this fall."

Although she enjoys staying plugged into the world of athletics, Siemer isn't interested in making the move into full-time athletic training. "You would almost have to be in St. Louis or someplace where you have professional sports teams to be able to do that full-time," she said. "I don't like it enough to do that."

As it is, she enjoys the myriad of challenges in regular orthopedic physical therapy.

"There are so many prognoses, so many problems," she said. "It's not just sport-related."

Siemer said she enjoys working with area high school athletes, but also patients of many ages.

"The high school athletes are great to work with because they're so eager to get back on the court," she said. "But the middle-aged individuals are just as eager to get back to their running or basketball leagues or whatever."

Her work also includes "conservative care," to avoid injuries and/or surgery. Most of the orthopedics revolves around joints.

Although she once thought the prospect of putting roots back down in the Jackson area unlikely, Siemer thinks she may do just that.

"I'm happy where I am and doing what I'm doing," she said. "I probably will stay here."