For many of us, youth sports have played a significant role in our lives. The games, the practices, fundraisers, and road trips either dot our calendars or fill our photo albums. Countless hours of driving, waiting, and sitting in cold bleachers is no deterrence to our efforts. Whether a coach, official, or parent, it would be fair to say that despite the sacrifices, most of us feel it is well worth it. And why is that? Perhaps the mission statement of the Mandan North Dakota hockey club says it best: “Providing our youth with the opportunity to develop Character, Responsibility, and Teamwork through life-long learning of the sport of hockey.” The everlasting effects of sports on our families and communities are ever-apparent when I had the pleasure of speaking with Dwight Mack.
Dwight grew up in the kindred state of North Dakota. Like many young athletes in our own area, his time at the ice rink or baseball diamond began even before his first day of kindergarten. From a young age, when Dwight wasn’t playing, he was nurturing his other passion in officiating hockey games. “If I wasn’t playing, I was officiating,” says Dwight.
That and the fact that Dwight’s father is the head baseball coach at Mandan High School was an extra boost for Dwight to “start early” in his sports career.
As time went on, “Dad” was his main mentor and hero. Dwight shares, “I saw the passion for success and effort that my dad put into his work. Baseball included. I wanted to emulate that; I wanted to be like that. Our mantra became: The harder I work, the luckier I get.”
This led to many successes: North Dakota State Baseball Champion Team, American Legion North Dakota State Champion Team, and Infielder and catcher for North Dakota State University.
Dwight recalls, “We won the state high school baseball championships with my dad as the coach, sister as the student manager, and my little brother as bat boy.”
He is also particularly proud of his involvement with the Mandan High School hockey team, founding the charity game Pucks 4 People, which gives back to the community through fundraisers and raffles that the younger players organize.
“In my freshman year, I had the opportunity to play baseball at a higher level for North Dakota State University as a catcher. But, in my sophomore year, I suffered a shoulder injury that, while not debilitating, was a signal that maybe the higher-level competitive chapter of my sports career was over,” says Dwight.
Undeterred, Dwight again turned to giving back to the community through his other passion of officiating hockey. He met the challenge of “earning his stripes” at the USA Hockey Western Regional Camp Ste. St. Marie Michigan and was then hired as a prestigious linesman official for junior level up through lower-level professional leagues for two years. “Those two years were highly rewarding,” shares Dwight.
But, as the old saying goes, “Life is what happens when we make other plans.” Dwight had, in the meantime, met his wife-to-be, Kaitlyn, and knew that the demanding schedules and long traveling absences would evolve into settling down and thinking ahead.
Building on his solid base of family, community, and team sports, Dwight was encouraged by a close family friend to become a State Farm Insurance agent in June of 2018 in Mandan. “I learned that selling insurance was only a small part of what it meant to be an agent. The important part is in building a business team, long-term client relationships, and giving back to the community.”
In 2021, Dwight had the opportunity to pursue his dream of opening his own State Farm agency, which after a nationwide search, ended up in Chaska. Dwight and Kaitlyn were attracted to the Twin Cities area by the sense of common Midwestern values and the at-home feeling of community in the Chaska area. “We wanted to go to the local grocery store and know that we would see our friends there,” says Dwight. He and Kaitlyn are also active outdoors adventurists, appreciating the abundance Minnesota has to offer, kayaking, fishing, and hunting. Even though their search for a business locale was nationwide, Chaska “checked all the boxes we were looking for.”
In starting his business, Dwight reflects, “Growing up in team sports, I learned how important it was to work together and merge personalities to reach a common goal. I learned that this is the same in business as well. If my team members are successful at the end of the day, then I am successful. Working with people to reach a common goal, whether with my team or clients, with a healthy dose of competitiveness for a positive outcome, shapes the foundation of running a business. It’s all about the satisfaction that we won the challenges together.”
In retrospect, for all the sacrifices that so many of us have made to nurture youth sports, it is for outcomes like Dwight and Kaitlyn that we do it. This is why we youth sports supporters, past and present, do what we do. Learn more and connect with Dwight at: www.dwightmack.com