Lucy Howell, President/Founder

For those of you who know me personally, welcome to my dream… For those of you who don't know me, here's some personal background of who I am and how I got here, to better understand the essence of TUCSON SPORT and why we are so committed to delivering this consistent message … Embrace Family, Engage Sport, Celebrate Life. My personal goal is to inspire others to be the best they can possibly be. If TUCSON SPORT can help impact the lives of just a single family, I will consider this entire venture worthwhile.

My Inspiration and Dedication

At first glance, one could never guess the profound significance and meaning that this picture has had on my life. My dad took this picture on August 31, 2001, my mom's 71st birthday. At the time, I didn't realize it would be the last.

Just three hours earlier, my mom had called me from her oncologist's office to break the news that her seven-year fight with breast cancer had yet another battle to overcome. We thought she was in the clear, but apparently not. The doctor suggested that, even though it was my mom's birthday, she undergo chemo that afternoon, so this picture was taken about an hour afterwards. The news was devastating, but my daughter, Haley (then 6), and I decided to go home and bake my mom a homemade birthday cake and deliver it to her on her favorite silver platter. The frosting had melted because we didn't wait for the cake to cool, and aesthetically, it wasn't the prettiest cake you've ever seen, but we were bound and determined to seize the day and celebrate her birthday…celebrate her life.

Two weeks later, she fell into a coma and a week later, in the midst of the September 11 aftermath, my twin brother, my dad, and I had to make the toughest decision any family would have to make…to take my mom off life support and allow her to peacefully move along on her journey.

Looking back, it's ironic that I tag the day of her funeral as both the worst and best day of my life thus far. The "worst day" part is obvious. The "best day" part, though, took some time, healing and distance to recognize. At first, I felt ashamed and unworthy as a daughter because I actually learned more about my mom's personal life-as an individual with her own set of hopes, dreams and aspirations-in the three days prior to her funeral, prepping for the eulogy, than I did after 32 years of life. To me, she was always Mom. How could I have missed out on the "person" behind the "mom"? How did I not realize what her true desires and passions were? Speaking at the eulogy and paying tribute to my mom's selfless, generous, and love-filled life made me stop and evaluate what I was doing with my own life. What would people say about me at my funeral? What type of impact or contribution have I made on the world or society? What mark will I leave behind? My mom was a teacher…one of those teachers that truly impacted the lives of her students. She LOVED teaching. What did I love? How could I make a difference?

Before you can start any life transition though, you have to recognize your talents and strengths, and then determine what you want in life. For me, I was sure of three things. 1) I loved my family and wanted to cherish and embrace them while we were blessed with the ability to do so. 2) I loved to be active, which was rooted from my early days of childhood sports. This passion had only resurfaced recently, as my 10-year-old daughter became more actively engaged in different sports like volleyball, basketball, tennis, and golf…I had forgotten how much I LOVED to play sports. And 3) I LOVED life…I believe life should be celebrated and cherished. In fact, even my license plate reads CLBR8LF (Celebrate Life), with a frame that reads, "Sometimes you have to make that happen."

With this in mind, for the past two years, I focused my energy into these three areas of family, sport, and life, and applied my professional skill-set, which had been developed over the past decade as a national sales and business development VP. I met with local business leaders that I respected, for initial guidance and feedback, built a strong, highly qualified team, starting at the top with my business partner, Editor in Chief and friend Colleen Bagnall, and am now both proud and honored to be delivering TUCSON SPORT to our active and athletic community to deliver one consistent message… Embrace family, Engage Sport and Celebrate Life.

Mom's Final Lesson…Don't be afraid to dream BIG. Figure out what you want in this world, believe in yourself, focus on what needs to take place, then prepare for success…and be prepared to modify as needed, which brings us up to date. Welcome to my dream…welcome to TUCSON SPORT.
This one's dedicated to you, Mom!