They started out 20 years ago playing basketball together in a Kent Parks Department league. And they\u2019re still playing.<\/p>\n
Then, they decided to form a softball team. And they\u2019re still playing that in Kent, too.<\/p>\n
And guys such as Glenn Watkins, Rich Marlow and brothers Steve and Mike Redmond don\u2019t see the end in sight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of teams that do a lot of training. But we just come together once a week to keep in touch with the guys we grew up with and ran around with,\u201d said Watkins, the player-coach of the Adam Smith for Congress team in the Kent Parks Evergreen League Wednesday Division. \u201cWe\u2019ve just carried on over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sure enough. But two full decades with a core group of 40-somethings \u2013 the Redmonds, Marlow, Watkins and his brother Greg, and brothers Todd and Brian Person \u2013 that has stuck together?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is kind of a surprise when you do the math,\u201d Glenn Watkins acknowledged with a smile.<\/p>\n
For a while on Wednesday night, the math worked out for Watkins\u2019 team in league playoffs. They rolled past Hays Painting\/Merrill Gardens in a loser-out semifinal contest, 11-4, then edged Cloud 9\/Able\u2019s Limousine, 10-9, to force a second and deciding championship game in the true double-elimination tournament. But Cloud 9\/Able\u2019s pulled out the title, 8-6.<\/p>\n
Win or lose, though, part of that group was planning to be at the Kent Commons gym on Friday for some early-riser basketball from 6-7 a.m. It\u2019s a passion they pursue together every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got these guys to do both (sports),\u201d said Steve Redmond, who, along with Mike, was a hoops standout at Tyee High School just up the hill to the west of Kent in SeaTac. \u201cYou play sports in high school and college, and you want to keep playing as you get older.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Mike Redmond, \u201cBasketball is a little harder. It takes more time and conditioning. As we get a little older, it\u2019s easier to stay competitive in softball than it is in basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marlow doesn\u2019t dribble and shoot any more \u2013 \u201cKnees and back,\u201d he said. \u201cI played 15 years without missing a day.\u201d But he\u2019s still there every spring when it\u2019s time to hit, catch and throw.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t practice, we don\u2019t play tournaments. When we play, we play hard,\u201d Marlow said. \u201cNo one gives anyone a bad time. We\u2019re all decent athletes and just having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having some success, too. While their league championship bid fell short this time, they\u2019ve claimed a couple of crowns in the past few years. And they\u2019ve done it without seeking elite-level players or otherwise shaking up their close-knit roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t try to add a lot of guys,\u201d Watkins said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some success. We\u2019re never going to be as successful as some other teams because we don\u2019t practice. But everyone comes from a competitive background.\u201d<\/p>\n
From a loyal background, too, where friendship and fun counts for more than wins and losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cA big part of the group grew up as kids. So it\u2019s kind of unique to carry on,\u201d Mike Redmond said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always stayed active and it\u2019s a good way to keep in touch,\u201d Marlow said of the group\u2019s longevity.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s certainly no time limit on something like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as I can keep going and stay healthy, I have no plans of quitting any time soon,\u201d Steve Redmond said.<\/p>\n
Then, flashing a grin, he added, \u201cWe\u2019ll probably end up on a 70-and-over league or something.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They started out 20 years ago playing basketball together in a Kent Parks Department league. And they\u2019re still playing.
\nThen, they decided to form a softball team. And they\u2019re still playing that in Kent, too.
\nAnd guys such as Glenn Watkins, Rich Marlow and brothers Steve and Mike Redmond don\u2019t see the end in sight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":15831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-15830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15830"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=15830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}