Hartman vying for athlete of the year
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By Jeff Snyder
Mount Ayr – Kolter Hartman, a local 10-year-old Beaconsfield resident, and junior baseball player, has advanced to the semi finals of the 3Brand sponsored Athlete of the Year competition. The competition is nationwide and benefits the V Foundation named after the legendary college basketball coach Jimmy Valvano, who lost his battle with cancer in 1993.
The contest is open to any youth athlete that was nominated, and ultimately selected by the 3 Brand/Collosal nomination committee.
Advancement through the competition is strictly based on the number of votes received in each round.
Kolter has survived multiple rounds of voting and has advanced to the semifinals, despite the small population of his home town of Beaconsfield, being 11.
Kolter’s success can be traced back to his tireless pursuit of his dream of becoming a professional baseball player, as well as the hard work and dedication of his family. Kolter’s father, Travis, has accumulated many friends throughout his lifetime and has kept in touch with most of them. Travis’ social media outreach campaign has yielded incredible results as is evidenced by his strong showing in vote tallies.
While votes are being cast, Kolter goes about the pursuit of his dream. He travels twice a week to the Creston area to participate in private baseball lessons. He also practices twice a week and competes with his home team, the Iowa Prospects 9U in Grimes, Iowa. Kolter also excels as a student participating in the Talented and Gifted programs (TAG)
Travis said that his son is motivated to pursue his dream.
“He’s a small town kid with big dreams.” Travis said. Kolter stands 4 foot 11 inches tall and weighs about 90 pounds.
He plays a variety of positions including third base, shortstop and pitcher. Pitcher is his preferred position since it gives him control over the outcome of the game. “He always wants the ball in his hand,” his father said.
In addition to the organic growth in vote gathering, people are also invited to “purchase” votes on behalf of their player. For each one dollar donation to the “V Foundation” the player receives one vote. Occasionally the foundation offers “double vote day” enabling donors to double up on their vote tally. Details can be found on the V Foundation web site. Voters are limited to one vote per 24 hour time frame. There is no limit on the number of times you can vote. Voting for this round ends September 25.
Travis said that Kolter would like others to know that it doesn’t matter where you come from to pursue your dreams. “I mean he works hard. I mean in my eyes right now I’m saying if somebody like him from Beaconsfield, Iowa, a town of 11 people can do something like this, the sky’s the limit.”
Kolter has a chance to change his life with a positive outcome of this election campaign. Not only will the first place prize money of $25,000 come in handy, the winner also receives an article in Sports Illustrated. Kolter’s father is convinced this is his ticket to the future, but even if he does not succeed in this endeavor Kolter will maintain a winners mindset.
When asked what would happen if he doesn’t win his father simply stated “We will get back up and start over again,” he said.
