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Sunday, June 1, 2008
Palmquists have their own Packer Nation
St. Paul, MN
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By: Bryan Horwath, VYPE High School Sports Magazine
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Photo(s) By: Carrie Gill
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Growing up in a South St. Paul household with three sports-crazy older brothers could have advantages and disadvantages for any young girl.
For Abby Palmquist, the disadvantages have been few and far between. “It’s been really cool because I get so much experience from them,” Abby said. “They’ve taught me so many great things about hockey and all the other sports. It’s great to know how to play all those sports.”
Abby – the youngest of David and Karen Palmquist’s four children and the only girl – is a sixth-grader at Mount Calvary School in Richfield who lists gymnastics and hockey as her two favorite sports.
“With older brothers who all loved sports, Abby was always playing with them,” said David, girls hockey and boys golf coach at South St. Paul High School. “She might be the best little athlete of them all.”
In a family as athletic as the Palmquists, that’s high praise. Although Abby will have to wait awhile for a chance to play hockey for her dad’s team in Wakota Arena, there are plenty of Palmquists patrolling the athletic fields for the Packers at any given time.
Josh is a senior pitcher on the baseball team, Zach is a junior on the Packers’ golf team and Luke is the No. 1 singles player on the boys varsity tennis team as a freshman. Because of obvious time constraints, the boys can’t participate in all the sports they enjoy, especially when it comes to sports that are in the same season.
Over time, the boys have developed favorites. Josh and Zach both list hockey as their favorite sport while Luke seems more focused on tennis. “Tennis is probably my favorite and hockey is one of my passions, too,” Luke said. “Tennis is just so fun and you can play it your whole life. I would really like to play for the (University of Minnesota) someday – that’s kind of my dream.”
Zach was an honorable mention selection to the 2008 Associated Press Minnesota All-State team in hockey as a defenseman and has been named to the All-Classic Suburban team the past two years. “I love hockey,” Zach said. “My dream is to play in the WCHA. I know I have to keep spending time in the weight room, but I feel like it’s a reachable goal if I do the right things.” His leadership speaks for itself as he’s been elected captain of both the hockey and golf teams for next year.
Josh, a four-year letter winner in baseball, is looking at attending Bethel University in the fall – his father’s alma mater – and possibly pursuing a career in business.
He says the Palmquist brothers are all supportive of each other. “We have always been really competitive in everything we do,” Josh said. “Growing up, you were always trying to be better than your brothers, but we all root for each other and there’s no jealousy involved.”
With Zach on his golf team this year and Josh having played in 2007 before switching back to baseball, David knows there is a fine line to walk between being a coach and being a father.
“We certainly talk about the different aspects of the sports they play,” David said. “But we as parents try to stay positive about everything and encourage them. Even though they know I’m a coach, they don’t want to hear about the game all the time. Kids just want someone to be supportive of them.”
Karen knows first hand how busy it can get with four kids who are involved a lot of activities, but also values the lessons athletics can teach. “I think (sports) are a real positive for kids,” she said. “It keeps them involved and offers something to focus on. Kids learn how to win, how to lose and how to be a part of a team. It’s a lot better than sitting around playing video games.”
This is one family that would rather stick to real life games – and lots of them
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