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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 28, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 10, 2005 Darryl Summerfield helps his granddaughter, Allie Winningham, 9, with her basketball finesse at Cascade Christian School. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Kids need a league, he said, and 21 years later he’s still running Junior Comet Sports in Central Point By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — Wanting local kids to have a "league of their own" and speaking up to say so was all it took for lifelong resident Darryl Summerfield to wind up being the man for the job. Being willing to see Junior Comet Sports through two decades of growth since urging a handful of coaches to embark on the adventure with him earned him recognition as this week’s Hometown Hero. For Summerfield, a class of ’64 grad and former Crater High teacher and coach, everything began in 1983 during regular trips to Medford for a third-grade son to play football for Medford’s YMCA league. "I remember going to the games and looking for people I knew and saw, in all the different fields they played on, two other people from Central Point," Summerfield recalled. "One of the guys that had a child playing was a friend I graduated with and I told him I thought we could run a program as good or better in Central Point. He said, ‘Oh yeah, who’s gonna run it?’ "I figured I opened my mouth, so I said ‘I guess I’ll have to.’ " Advertisement From there, Summerfield recruited friends and fellow coaches to kick off a Central Point youth football league under the Junior Comet identity in 1984. The program’s inaugural year tallied 14, 12-player teams, or just fewer than 170 kids. More than 20 years later, the organization rounds out at around 1,000 players in leagues including football, volleyball and basketball. Still at the helm, Summerfield now coaches girls basketball. His granddaughter will take to the court this year. He oversees much of the nonprofit’s management and mans a fireworks tent each year to raise cash for scholarships. Summerfield is quick to pass the credit to the organization’s many volunteers, including coaches, parents and board members. Longtime coach Mike Anhorn, however, said Summerfield was due more credit than he would likely accept. "I don’t know anybody that’s done more than Darryl," Anhorn said. "He’s persistent and hard-nosed. ... He started the program 21 years ago. One year after that, he called me to help, and I said ‘No way.’ ... ’Course, now I’ve been there 20 years." Anhorn said Summerfield truly cares for the community, its children and schools. "In my mind he’s probably the best athlete that ever went through Central Point," added Anhorn. "He was a three-year letterman at Oregon State in baseball, one of the leading home-run hitters � sports has always been big in his life and he wants to pass that on to the kids. He’s coached football, softball, wrestling — you name it — at Crater. � Sports is probably the biggest thing in his life besides his grandkids." Summerfield shrugs off his own contributions. The story he wanted to tell was more the history of the Junior Comets and the young athletes who helped create it over the years. He keeps doing what he’s been doing, he says matter-of-factly, because he loves it and because his wife continues to tolerate his full-time commitment. "I haven’t made a decision on when I plan to hang it up," Summerfield said. "I know at some point I’ll have to quit. "I just haven’t thought about when it might be." Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers