PUBLISHER’S COLUMN: MASSEY & CLARK
I didn’t include it with my story about Ashton Massey that highlights this edition of The Courier, but I spent some time talking with the Menno senior about Caitlin Clark.
“Ever heard of her?” I asked Ashton.
She laughed and we went on to talk about the former Iowa point guard who is now wearing a WNBA uniform with the Indiana Fever. I wanted to get Ashton’s take on who is arguably the best college basketball player of all time for two reasons: 1. Both are leading the way in women’s athletics in their own way and; 2. Both are the products of extremely hard work.
“She’s amazing,” Ashton told me, her wide eyes sparkling. “She’s changed the game; there’s no doubt about it. And it’s really cool to see the impact she has had. My favorite thing is hearing guys make the comment that they’re more excited about the women’s side of sports this year than the men’s side. That just blows my mind.”
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not comparing Ashton Massey to Caitlin Clark (last I knew Ashton hadn’t struck a $28 million deal with Nike). But they are similar in nature because of their drive and determination to get better, and how success can trickle down to others.
Ashton says Caitlin is motivation for her “in more ways than one.”
“It shows how hard work can get you so many places, but she’s also showing the impact you can have on people around you,” Ashton says. “It has definitely inspired me to have a relationship with everybody here, from middle school to high school, because you never know the kind of influence you can have on someone.”
In the 25 years that I have been working for this newspaper as a full-time community journalist — and even in the years before that — I have covered a lot of standout athletes starting with Brian Goertz and Cory Wallman in 1995, who are two of the best Freeman Public has ever seen. I had a front-row seat for those four Freeman High School state football championships from 1996 to 1999, watched Hillary Paulson take the Freeman girls to their first-ever state basketball tournament with a 3-point dagger in the Corn Palace, saw Collin Helma start fires on track surfaces, and have marveled at how the Freeman Academy/Marion boys keep finding distance runners in what continues to be one of the greatest dynasties that draws little statewide attention.
But I don’t know that I’ve ever covered a student-athlete quite like Ashton Massey. I spent a long time writing her story for this week’s issue, and as I did, I marveled, not only at her work ethic, but her vulnerability. It takes a lot of courage to talk publicly about anxiety and other internal struggles, but Ashton didn’t hide. Instead, she owned it.
In the same way that Caitlin Clark will never know how many little girls she inspired to pick up a basketball, Ashton Massey will never know how many people will hear her story and decide to get healthy — to be better — to put in the work — to win.
And that includes me.
