A Shared Passion for Athletics
Oct 14, 2024 | Soccer, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
They sit together for a time, the father and daughter. The father speaks. The daughter smiles. He wears a grey quarter-zip with a small purple Powercat. She wears a charcoal gray Kansas State women's soccer long-sleeve t-shirt. Jamal Mayers is talking about when he knew that Langley loved soccer. He figures it happened in St. Louis, Missouri, when she vaulted, no, kicked her way to the top squad of her club soccer organization.
"You could really tell," he says, "that it was her passion."
She shares a passion for athletics with her dad. They're sitting in the dugout at Buser Family Park. Sun blazing. It's supposed to grow unseasonably hot today in Manhattan. Someone offers to take their picture. They rise and climb steps onto the plush, green field, the dugout in the background splashed in purple, and Jamal says, "Why don't we turn this way to face the sun?" So, they pivot. They face the sun together. The father and daughter, sharing the light together.
The spotlight shone upon Langley the night before. The freshman center/midfielder has played in 11 games with six starts. She has a gift. She is incredibly creative with the soccer ball. Complete command. The ball is an extension of her leg and foot. She chuckles, perhaps a little bit bashfully, in describing her favorite move, the backheel kick.
"In club, we used to work on all kinds of passes," she begins. "One of the ones I liked the most was the backheel. I've tried to incorporate that here."
In the game, she doesn't think. If a defender is running and underlaps her, and she sees that the defender is on her side, she knows the defender probably isn't expecting a backheel, where she fires the ball behind her.
"My teammates are really good about talking about where they are, so when I get a feel for where they are, the backheel will open space for them," she says. "I try to use my creativity to help the team."
K-State head coach Mike Dibbini knows. He has seen Langley's development since her days of being a standout in St. Louis.
"She brings tenacity, grit and a blue-collar mindset," he says. "She's dynamic on the attack. She has good vision. High IQ. You can tell she's played at a high level. She's worked hard for that, too. You have a good, strong, physical athlete and you have to work a little bit now on the ability to be technically sound. You can tell she's been perfecting that craft in the same way she approaches strikes and passes, using all textures of her feet. She has experience and composure."
There was a time when the daughter saw her father in the spotlight. Jamal played 15 seasons in the NHL, spending time playing for the St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, and he won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013. Overall, he played in 915 regular games in his professional hockey career, scoring 90 goals, recording 129 assists, and tallying 219 points.
These days, the father is excited watching his daughter play underneath the lights.
"Definitely it's harder being a dad in the stands," he says, comparing being a hockey star to a soccer dad. "You have no control, so you're just hopeful. You understand it's a game and enjoy that part of it and play free. When you play free, you play your best. If you look back to any athlete, they talk about being in zone and all those words they want to talk about, and it's because they went out and played and didn't think about it, and they had a short memory."
Langley already has a ton of amazing memories. After earning 2023 Missouri High School Coaches Association Class 4 All-State Second Team honors, she earned 2024 Missouri Class 3A All-State First Team accolades at St. Joseph's Academy in St. Louis. As a high school freshman, she racked up seven goals and six assists in 2021.
The Mayers can be fiercely competitive. There's Jamal and Natalie. There's Langley. And there's Harper and Crew. And then there's the rest of the extended family. They're competitive at board games over the holidays. And, why, once Jamal, uncle Allan (a former track star) and cousin Colton (a former professional lacrosse star) decided to race (for whatever reason) across the soccer field (Colton won) after one of Langley's soccer games.
"In my family, no one wants to lose," Langley says. "It makes it fun."
Natalie's family are die-hard K-Staters. Jamal estimates that roughly 98% of her family attended K-State or are K-State fans. Langley attended her first K-State football game nine years ago. And now? The family returns as much as possible to see her in action on a different field.
"Things kind of come full circle," Jamal says. "Here we are now, nine years later."
Langley discusses what makes her tick, the essence of her passion for competition, and those characteristics that she gets from her father and mother. She decided that she gets her characteristics from both as one.
"Both of my parents resemble dedication and motivation in different ways," she says. "They both have instilled that into me. Same with strength, both mentally and physically. Obviously, dad was an NHL player. My mom is a nurse and a really good mom."
She pauses.
"Honestly," she says, "all the qualities I have are from both of them."
The love for soccer? That's entwined into the fabric of being a kid in St. Louis.
"It was just a culture," Langley says. "A lot of my friends played soccer. I wanted to be better. That's how it started. I was surrounded with a ton of good players on our club team. They were going on to play in college. That's what I wanted to do."
And she learned a little bit about herself by watching her father play hockey.
"When he won the Cup, it was all worth it," she says. "It showed me if you put in the work and are dedicated, you'll get what you want. Seeing him compete showed me I want to compete. I wanted to compete in my own sport. Soccer was my sport. But sports are what brought us — he's a right-winger and he got to create shots, too, and obviously I'm playing center-mid and that's a pretty creative position.
"Together, I watched him and saw all the things he got to do, and I was like, 'I want to do something cool like that, too.' My dad inspires me."
They shared the light together, the father and daughter, a few times before, but never quite in this arena of unbelievable elation as they felt on the evening of June 24, 2013. That's the night that dedication-meets-hard-work-meets-success formed a perfect marriage. The Chicago Blackhawks held a 3-2 lead over the Boston Bruins in the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals, but the Blackhawks found themselves trailing 2-1 with 76 seconds left in the third period. But it wasn't over. The Blackhawks scored two goals in 17 seconds to win the Cup in front of 17,565 at TD Garden. It was one of the most riveting finishes in Stanley Cup history.
And Langley shared the moment with Jamal, who was the oldest member of the Blackhawks and the third person to hoist the trophy on the ice.
Moments later, Natalie took her two daughters to the ice. Langley and Harper were in the arms of their father. The lights never seemed brighter.
The sun comes pretty darned close, though, as Langley and Jamal take the K-State soccer field.
It's a journey together, father and daughter, that's virtually picture perfect.
They sit together for a time, the father and daughter. The father speaks. The daughter smiles. He wears a grey quarter-zip with a small purple Powercat. She wears a charcoal gray Kansas State women's soccer long-sleeve t-shirt. Jamal Mayers is talking about when he knew that Langley loved soccer. He figures it happened in St. Louis, Missouri, when she vaulted, no, kicked her way to the top squad of her club soccer organization.
"You could really tell," he says, "that it was her passion."
She shares a passion for athletics with her dad. They're sitting in the dugout at Buser Family Park. Sun blazing. It's supposed to grow unseasonably hot today in Manhattan. Someone offers to take their picture. They rise and climb steps onto the plush, green field, the dugout in the background splashed in purple, and Jamal says, "Why don't we turn this way to face the sun?" So, they pivot. They face the sun together. The father and daughter, sharing the light together.
The spotlight shone upon Langley the night before. The freshman center/midfielder has played in 11 games with six starts. She has a gift. She is incredibly creative with the soccer ball. Complete command. The ball is an extension of her leg and foot. She chuckles, perhaps a little bit bashfully, in describing her favorite move, the backheel kick.
"In club, we used to work on all kinds of passes," she begins. "One of the ones I liked the most was the backheel. I've tried to incorporate that here."
In the game, she doesn't think. If a defender is running and underlaps her, and she sees that the defender is on her side, she knows the defender probably isn't expecting a backheel, where she fires the ball behind her.
"My teammates are really good about talking about where they are, so when I get a feel for where they are, the backheel will open space for them," she says. "I try to use my creativity to help the team."
K-State head coach Mike Dibbini knows. He has seen Langley's development since her days of being a standout in St. Louis.
"She brings tenacity, grit and a blue-collar mindset," he says. "She's dynamic on the attack. She has good vision. High IQ. You can tell she's played at a high level. She's worked hard for that, too. You have a good, strong, physical athlete and you have to work a little bit now on the ability to be technically sound. You can tell she's been perfecting that craft in the same way she approaches strikes and passes, using all textures of her feet. She has experience and composure."
There was a time when the daughter saw her father in the spotlight. Jamal played 15 seasons in the NHL, spending time playing for the St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, and he won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013. Overall, he played in 915 regular games in his professional hockey career, scoring 90 goals, recording 129 assists, and tallying 219 points.
These days, the father is excited watching his daughter play underneath the lights.
"Definitely it's harder being a dad in the stands," he says, comparing being a hockey star to a soccer dad. "You have no control, so you're just hopeful. You understand it's a game and enjoy that part of it and play free. When you play free, you play your best. If you look back to any athlete, they talk about being in zone and all those words they want to talk about, and it's because they went out and played and didn't think about it, and they had a short memory."
Langley already has a ton of amazing memories. After earning 2023 Missouri High School Coaches Association Class 4 All-State Second Team honors, she earned 2024 Missouri Class 3A All-State First Team accolades at St. Joseph's Academy in St. Louis. As a high school freshman, she racked up seven goals and six assists in 2021.
The Mayers can be fiercely competitive. There's Jamal and Natalie. There's Langley. And there's Harper and Crew. And then there's the rest of the extended family. They're competitive at board games over the holidays. And, why, once Jamal, uncle Allan (a former track star) and cousin Colton (a former professional lacrosse star) decided to race (for whatever reason) across the soccer field (Colton won) after one of Langley's soccer games.
"In my family, no one wants to lose," Langley says. "It makes it fun."
Natalie's family are die-hard K-Staters. Jamal estimates that roughly 98% of her family attended K-State or are K-State fans. Langley attended her first K-State football game nine years ago. And now? The family returns as much as possible to see her in action on a different field.
"Things kind of come full circle," Jamal says. "Here we are now, nine years later."
Langley discusses what makes her tick, the essence of her passion for competition, and those characteristics that she gets from her father and mother. She decided that she gets her characteristics from both as one.
"Both of my parents resemble dedication and motivation in different ways," she says. "They both have instilled that into me. Same with strength, both mentally and physically. Obviously, dad was an NHL player. My mom is a nurse and a really good mom."
She pauses.
"Honestly," she says, "all the qualities I have are from both of them."
The love for soccer? That's entwined into the fabric of being a kid in St. Louis.
"It was just a culture," Langley says. "A lot of my friends played soccer. I wanted to be better. That's how it started. I was surrounded with a ton of good players on our club team. They were going on to play in college. That's what I wanted to do."
And she learned a little bit about herself by watching her father play hockey.
"When he won the Cup, it was all worth it," she says. "It showed me if you put in the work and are dedicated, you'll get what you want. Seeing him compete showed me I want to compete. I wanted to compete in my own sport. Soccer was my sport. But sports are what brought us — he's a right-winger and he got to create shots, too, and obviously I'm playing center-mid and that's a pretty creative position.
"Together, I watched him and saw all the things he got to do, and I was like, 'I want to do something cool like that, too.' My dad inspires me."
They shared the light together, the father and daughter, a few times before, but never quite in this arena of unbelievable elation as they felt on the evening of June 24, 2013. That's the night that dedication-meets-hard-work-meets-success formed a perfect marriage. The Chicago Blackhawks held a 3-2 lead over the Boston Bruins in the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals, but the Blackhawks found themselves trailing 2-1 with 76 seconds left in the third period. But it wasn't over. The Blackhawks scored two goals in 17 seconds to win the Cup in front of 17,565 at TD Garden. It was one of the most riveting finishes in Stanley Cup history.
And Langley shared the moment with Jamal, who was the oldest member of the Blackhawks and the third person to hoist the trophy on the ice.
Moments later, Natalie took her two daughters to the ice. Langley and Harper were in the arms of their father. The lights never seemed brighter.
The sun comes pretty darned close, though, as Langley and Jamal take the K-State soccer field.
It's a journey together, father and daughter, that's virtually picture perfect.
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