You never know where the next superstar will come from

The funny thing about amateur sports is that you never know who you’re watching. Most of the time it’s just a bunch of local kids or some weekend warrior. But every now and then, one comes along that makes you stand up and take notice.

I had a chance to cover shot putter and discus thrower John Godina at Cheyenne (Wyo.) Central High School. Godina had the farthest high school discus throw in the nation his senior year when he marked at 210 feet, 4 inches. He also went 63-1 in the shot to win both state championships that year.

I will have to say I got a little spoiled getting to write about throws over 200 feet. Godina went on to become one of the most decorated throwers in U.S. history. He won a silver medal in the shot at the Atlanta Olympic Games and a bronze in the disc in 2000 at the Melbourne Games. He also won three IAAF World Championships in the shot.

One of the most humble kids you ever wanted to know, truly the kind of guy you’d want to marry your sister. I remember one time John came back to Wyoming from UCLA for the summer to help with a camp his dad, Bill, used to run. He brought a little fella named Jonathan Ogden with him. At 6-9, 345 pounds, Ogden was, needless to say, a big man on campus in Los Angeles. Here’s a couple of budding superstars from UCLA getting in a little work on a windy day on the high plains of Wyoming.

Ogden helped UCLA to the 1993 Pac-10 Championship and Rose Bowl and later won the NCAA indoor national championship in the shot put in 1996. His true calling was the NFL where he had a Hall of Fame career with the Ravens. Godina was on his way to Olympic and international throwing superstardom. I can’t hardly imagine what the grocery bill at the Godina’s might have been that summer.

The thing that makes this little stroll down memory lane something special is that Godina led the steroid-free movement in Olympic history, refusing the buckle to pressure and money. He could have joined Ogden on the Bruins offensive line, and broke a lot of recruiters hearts when, as a high school All-American, he announced he was giving up football to concentrate on chasing an Olympic dream. Nowadays he runs The John Godina World Throws Center where he helps American throwers to the next level.

Ogden established the Jonathan Ogden Foundation to benefit inner city schools and help student-athletes take responsibility for their futures through lessons learned on the playing field, in the classroom, and throughout their local communities.

They are good guys doing good things. As I look around in my travels around the Columbia Basin, I wonder who the next superstar might be? Like I said, most of the time it’s just kids working hard at being a kid, playing a little ball, maybe getting a college scholarship out of the deal. But you never know who you are looking at and maybe, just maybe …

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer with the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com