By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
Special to Hays Post
It may be true that a leopard can’t change its spots.
But there is a Tiger in this jungle who has at least changed the direction of his stripes. And he couldn’t be happier to do so.
Hays native Bob Swift is a huge supporter of Fort Hays State University basketball and has attended nearly every game – home and away – over the past four years.
Whether traveling the roads all across Kansas or to several surrounding states, he said he enjoys the road trips with his wife, Sondra.
Swift has become such a fan of the Tigers, he plans to make the nine-and-a-half-hour road trip to Mankato, Minn., to watch the FHSU men’s team play in this weekend’s NCAA Division II Central Region Championships.
Swift was a standout athlete in football, wrestling, and baseball growing up. He represented the Cadets of St. Joseph Military Academy in Hays during his high school days.
St. Joseph’s started the school wrestling program his junior year, and his love of the sport was so deep that he was instrumental in helping start the Hays Youth Wrestling Club in Hays.
The Swifts’ son, Shawn, wrestled as a youngster and all through high school, and their daughter, Stacy, served as the wrestling team manager at Hays High School.
But Swift learned that your allegiances can change when your grandsons have chosen basketball as their winter sport.
The Swifts started following their four grandchildren’s activities in Hutchinson from grade school on, and they were thrilled when their oldest grandson, Kaleb, chose to further his education and play basketball at FHSU.
Just like that, the Tiger basketball program got two more dedicated fans.
Sondra hasn’t been able to attend all the games over the years, but Bob has missed only a few of the 111 games that Kaleb has started since his freshman year.
“When you have grandkids involved, it’s easy to support them,” Bob said. “What a blessing grandkids are.”
The feelings are mutual for Kaleb and his younger brother, Lucas, also a member of the Tiger basketball team.
“My grandpa and my dad (Joe Hammeke) have come to nearly every single game for four years,” Kaleb said. “I didn’t realize how much it means to me until I got older. It’s always great to see them after the games.”
Not only has the Swifts’ house become a home-away-from-home for Kaleb and Lucas but for other Tiger players as well.
They have hosted Thanksgiving dinners for several of the Tigers and often taken the Hammeke brothers and some of their teammates out for dinner on Thursdays. The Swifts have gotten especially close to Tiger senior Bjarni Jonsson, a native of Iceland.
“Bjarni and I were roommates in the dorm my freshman year, and we’ve grown to be close friends, and my grandparents made him part of the family,” Kaleb said. “It’s been special for Bjarni to have someone here in Hays to be close to, but my grandparents do an incredible job of welcoming everyone. I feel so blessed. Not everyone is lucky enough to have grandparents like me.”
The Swifts say they are the lucky ones.
“It’s been great to be able to get to know these young people,” Bob said. “Those kids are all so polite. The coaches have done a great job – both recruiting kids of great character and having that kind of influence on them once they get here.”
Teams appreciate fan support
Bob Swift was in the stands at both of the Tiger men’s games at the MIAA Championships in Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., last weekend. And many other loyal fans attended both the men’s and women’s games.
Schuyler Coates, a director of development for the FHSU Foundation and Alumni Office, said there were too many long-time fans to name them all. However, one group surely won the prize for being the farthest from home – Jonsson’s family from Iceland.
“I understand the alumni in the Kansas City area making some of the games, but I’m amazed of how many people from Hays travel for those games,” Coates said. “I think it’s so incredible how our community takes care of the college kids once they come here. You can talk to a lot of fans, and they can reel off the players’ stat lines better than the players themselves. We are so fortunate.”
Relatives of some of the Tiger women’s team made the trip from Iowa for the MIAA tournament, including Megan Earney’s parents, who haven’t missed many games in their daughter’s three years on the team. It’s a six-hour drive from the Earneys’ home in Des Moines to Hays, so some of the Tigers’ away games are even closer to their home.
The drive to Kansas City was a relatively close one for Doug and Colette Earney, so they decided to make a week of basketball and attended games from Wednesday through Sunday.
“We have gotten to know a lot of the players on different MIAA teams, so it’s fun to watch them, too,” said Colette Earney, who echoed Coates’ appreciation for the community support.
“It’s wonderful from the business members to community members to moms and dads who bring their kids to games, we have been so pleased with the support the teams get,” she said. “The way the entire community embraces these players is heartwarming to parents.”
The number of Tiger fans sporting FHSU black and gold at Municipal Auditorium often rival the crowds cheering for teams located much closer to Kansas City than Hays.
From the pep rallies organized by the FHSU Foundation/Alumni at Johnny’s Tavern a few blocks from the auditorium to cheering them on in the stands, support for the Tigers is second to none.
Fort Hays State joined the MIAA in 2006 when the majority of the conference consisted of Missouri schools. The Tigers have shown that this western Kansas university belongs in the MIAA, revered as one of the top Division II conferences in the nation.
Year in and year out, FHSU’s attendance numbers at Gross Memorial Coliseum have ranked in the top echelon among Division II schools. That support carries over for away games as well.
“For being a school on the outskirts area of the MIAA, it’s amazing the turnout and support we get from our fans, both at home and on the road,” said Mark Johnson, in his 23rd year as head coach of the Tiger men’s team. “That’s what makes it fun for the players and us coaches. You want to be someplace where people care, and obviously at Fort Hays State, people care.”
Tiger women’s coach Talia Kahrs agrees. Kahrs is in her first year as head coach for the Tiger women, but she has been involved with the team for 15 years, both as a player and an assistant coach.
“The support we get from fans and the whole community is huge,” Kahrs said. “In our recruiting, it’s a big deal that we can say we are No. 1 or 2 in the nation for attendance. But I think the biggest thing is not only are they showing up at games, they really care about the girls. It’s a small-town feel. Even when you go to Walmart, people know the players.”
Both Tiger teams still alive
This marks the first time since 2016 that both men’s and women’s teams made the NCAA playoffs the same year.
While the men will play in Minnesota this weekend, the women will head south to Bethany, Okla., the site of the women’s Central Region tournament. The complete tournament brackets can be found on the FHSU athletics website.
So, FHSU fans have to make a decision which direction to travel for regionals, or they can listen to the Tigers by radio or by audio streaming.
Sondra Swift was not sure earlier this week if she would make the trip to Minnesota.
If not, she will still be following the action, glued to her radio and listening to the Voice of the Tigers, Gerard Wellbrock.
“Gerard does such a great job (broadcasting) the games,” she said, adding the utmost compliment to a radio broadcaster. “You feel like you are there.”
Most Tiger fans would probably agree that listening to Wellbrock and his color commentator for Tiger games, Dustin Armbruster, is the next-best thing to watching the games in person.
Fans of both Tiger teams are in luck.
Wellbrock will be in Minnesota with the men’s team, and Armbruster will be in Oklahoma broadcasting the women’s games.
Eagle Radio broadcast schedule
Whether you are a grandparent or a parent, an avid fan or a sometimes fan, it’s a grand time to be a Tiger.
If you can’t make the regional games in person, tune in to your radio or click on the audio link on the Hays Post website.
You will definitely feel like you are there.