‘Hey Mom, Cover That Shot’

ARKANSAS TEAM FEATURES THREE MOM/DAUGHTER PAIRS … PLUS A SISTER

By Ron Cioffi

It’s a family affair in triplicate-plus on the Arkansas 3.5 Women’s team.

The family connection combines captain Jill Ferris; her mother, Angie Medlock; Mary McCain, her daughter, Sarah Garner and her sister, Patty Cox.

Three mother/daughter combinations grace this team. To add to the mix, the sister (and aunt) of one of the pairs also plays on this tightly-woven team.

Take mom Mary McCain and daughter Sarah Garner. When Mary was asked who is the mom on the court, daughter Sarah injected, “She is … until she gets tired.”

“I know her game very well. I’ve been her mother for 24 years,” added McCain. “She was good when she was little and I knew she was good as an adult. She’s better than me.”

Since playing with her mother this year, Garner said, “I’ve learned to be a lot more patient.”

Rounding out the family connection is Patty Cox, McCain’s sister and Garner’s aunt. “She’s the elder,” McCain said so there was no question about age order. “We’ve been playing together for years,” Cox said. She turned to her sister and added, “Remember when we won the city tournament. It was around 1980.

The team plays out of Creek More, city courts in Ft. Smith, AR. However, most of the team lives in the Mulberry, a town of only 1,500.

Athleticism is another key to the team’s success as three of the younger members played on the state champion Mulberry High basketball team. Kara Cummingham and Kim Simon, daughter of Katie King, continue to keep the local competitive spirit alive.

Captain Jill Farris is the daughter of Angie Medlock and they play doubles together … sometimes. Medlock said her daughter usually plays singles. “She gets frustrated with me,” Medlock said, prompting a laugh from surrounding teammates. “Don’t laugh at me,” injected the captain with a smile on her face.

“One of our season highlights would have to be when our  No. 3 doubles team played and beat a very strong No. 1 doubles team of another team in our league. It seemed like we became a much closer and stronger team following that victory,” Farris explained.