Royals honor Moore, Olson with O’Neil seat

By Andy Brown
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Updated: August 26, 2015

Louisburg’s Karin Olson (left) and Diana Moore (second from left) were honored with the Buck O’Neil Legacy Seat during Tuesday night’s Kansas City Royals game at Kauffman Stadium. Joining them were Louisburg girls soccer head coach Kyle Conley (second from right) and assistant Michael Pickman.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After a year of nonstop fundraising efforts, Diana Moore and Karin Olson finally had a chance to sit back, reflect and take in a baseball game.

They did it in one of the best seats the Kansas City Royals had to offer.

Both Olson and Moore were honored with the Buck O’Neil Legacy Seat during Tuesday’s game with the Baltimore Orioles. The Royals honor O’Neil, a former scout and Negro League legend, every home game by selecting a member of the community who, on a large or small scale, embodies an aspect of O’Neil’s giving and caring spirit.

The Louisburg duo, along with the rest of the Louisburg High School girls soccer fundraising committee, raised $39,000 in less than a year to fund the LHS girls soccer program for the first three years.

“When we received the email letting us know that we would be honored in the Legacy Seat, I was really in disbelief,” Olson said. “It didn’t seem possible that our efforts to bring girls soccer to LHS would mean this much. I feel very proud of all the work that the entire fundraising committee did; it was truly a group effort to reach our goal in such a short period of time.

“Although I don’t have a daughter of my own, I have met so many amazing young women athletes in our community that deserve this opportunity to play for their high school and I am thrilled that they now have that chance.”

Olson and Moore were honored for their service on the jumbotron before and during the game. The two were also featured during the Fox Sports Kansas City broadcast of the game. Louisburg head coach Kyle Conley and assistant Michael Pickman joined them on their special day.

“To receive the award during the Royals game was the icing on the cake,” Moore said. “It was great that we were able to have coach Conley and coach Pickman there to share the honor with us. Our job is done. We helped get the team. Now it is theirs.

“To be honest the best award of all will be watching the girls take the field the first time this spring and every year thereafter. “It’s a pretty incredible feeling knowing you helped make that happen.”

This wasn’t even the first honor for the fundraising committee. In February, the group received the Sprint Teamwork Award during the WIN for KC Women’s Sports Awards Celebrations.

The Women’s Intersport Network for Kansas City (WIN) was established in 1994 with the mission to empower girls and women through advocating and promoting the lifetime value of sports and fitness, while providing opportunities for participation and leadership development. WIN is a volunteer, membership-driven organization that operates as a program under the umbrella of the Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation.

The fundraising efforts are done. The honors are now in the past, but the future of LHS girls soccer is on firm foundation thanks to the work of Olson, Moore and several other Louisburg community members.

As fun as the award ceremonies and baseball games were for both them, they are just looking forward to March when they can see all their hard work come to a realization.

“I am hopeful that what we helped do for the girls in Louisburg will have a lasting impact,” Moore said. “We never imagined we would win awards and be honored like we have. But it does make you step back and realize what our committee did was pretty amazing. I am proud to have worked with a group of people that were determined to make this happen for our girls.”

Louisburg will take the field for the first time on March 22 when they travel to Harmon High School in its season opener. The Lady Cats home opener will be on March 24 against Tonganoxie.

“After all the amazing experiences we have had, the truly amazing day will be when they take the field for the first time at Harmon, as well as their first home game,” Olson said. “I look forward to cheering them on as LHS Wildcats. Last night was truly a great honor to be recognized for all the hard work, but it still seems unreal.”