Grove comes from basketball family
Published Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Photo by Tom Hintgen
Underwood’s Aaron Grove is in his eighth season as a volunteer assistant basketball coach with the MSCTC Spartans. He’s also assistant manager with Sverdrup Mutual Insurance in Underwood.
Assistant manager duties for Sverdrup Mutual Insurance keep South Turtle Lake resident Aaron Grove on the go as a businessman. Away from work, he concentrates on basketball as a volunteer assistant for head men’s MSCTC Spartan basketball coach Jason Retzlaff.
Saying that Grove’s ties to MSCTC are special is an understatement. He and seven siblings — from Grey Eagle — have all participated in MSCTC athletics over the years.
“My association with MSCTC and the Spartans is part of a family tradition,” said Grove, who played basketball for the Spartans when they won state and regional titles in 1996. “I’m happy to be part of this great Spartan tradition.”
Grove’s older brother, Paul, began the Spartan tradition when he played basketball for Jason Retzlaff’s father, Dave, in 1985-86. Then, sister Beth came to Fergus Falls and was a Spartan volleyball player.
Brothers Pete and Chris Grove played football and basketball at the same time for the Spartans, in 1990. After that came Tim and Aaron, as Spartan basketball players.
Brother Nate was a member of the 1998 Spartan basketball national title team, and brother Josh, in 2003, was the last of the eight Grove siblings to compete in athletics at MSCTC. His team also won state and regional titles.
Grove and his wife, Breck, reside at South Turtle Lake with their daughter, Kallyn, 14 months.
Breck played volleyball for MSCTC coach Ann Williams for two years and was a standout as a middle hitter. She went on to play at Valley City State for two more years and now is an elementary teacher and assistant volleyball coach at Underwood.
Along with volunteering for Spartan basketball, Grove also helps out with confirmation classes at Sverdrup Lutheran Church, Under-wood.
He enjoys his work with Sverdrup Mutual Insurance in Underwood, where he’s been employed a little over four years. He’s a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College where he majored in business management and where he was captain of the college men’s basketball team.
As with the Spartans, he also competed in national tournaments with the Gusties.
"Aaron has been a huge part of Spartan basketball for many years. Not only is he extremely knowledgeable about the game, but he is a wonderful role model for our players as well,” head coach Jason Retzlaff said.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)