When you go to a business, you expect to receive quality service, and for them to tend to whatever needs you may be looking for on that specific day. What you may not expect, however, is a community between every last employee working there, from the boss all the way to the brand new hire. But that is what you’ll find at Howard’s Point Marina on Lake Minnetonka. Set right on the water, you immediately have an amazing west facing view of the lake as you look down the concrete boat launch that splits the shop from the work shed down the middle, perfect for watching the sunset after a relaxing day of boating. The sprawling docks that seem to go on forever jut out into the water, ending when they reach the gas area and housing rows of boats on the two extending docks to the side. To the right float 8 nearly identical pontoons that only differ in their fading colors of navy and green, and with their lake-themed nicknames on the front.

Located in the small Minnesota town of Shorewood, the locally owned and operated marina has been in business since 1926. After being purchased in 2017 by Martin Davis, CEO of Cambria, among other business ventures, some were worried about maintaining that same local feel they had come to love at the expense of profitability. Right away after the purchase, and reiterated when asked today, Davis said “I bought this place to make sure it stayed exactly the same. This place is a treasure and I want to keep it that way.” Davis, affectionately known as “Marty” by the employees and anyone who knows him well, routinely takes time out of his extremely busy schedule to come down and check up on his small business that sits just down the road from his newly constructed home on Lake Minnetonka. Sticking true to his word, upper management has stayed identical to the day he purchased it. 

Just under Bill are the supervisors, Mason and Buck, who could not be more polar opposites. Buck, a veteran who’s well into his 70s by now, still clocks in every morning and works hard as ever, and Mason, a college freshman now, who like Bill, first came to the marina when he could barely walk. Through constant turnover, with most workers being between the ages of 16-20 and being shipped off to college mid-season, they are the constants that you always see. 

This experience is one that’s expected by the bosses, but also executed at will by the workers who are more than willing to make you feel at home the second you arrive. Once you make a few trips there, they begin to recognize you very quickly. One employee, Anders, knows almost every customer that comes by name and boat model, and can name something equally specific to them as well. He began working at the marina in 2019, and has quickly become one of the best the business has to offer, and a fan favorite of the customers. While always getting what needs to be done and more at lightning pace, he always finds time to enjoy his time on the job as well. The unofficial motto of the staff, work hard and play harder, can be seen as soon as the clouds roll in, the wind picks up, or the sun starts to set. Every last one of the employees is seen enjoying the time there with their co-workers, who are genuinely all friends with one another, and all love their jobs. They’ll play games(4 square on the ramp is a favorite), dip their feet in the water to cool off, and have great debates about all sorts of subjects on the rails of the docks. While you can feel and be a part of the community as an outsider, the foundation of that experience comes from the staff relationships.

While the workers are a huge part of the community of Howard’s Point Marina, the establishment would be nothing without the loyal customers that keep the business alive. A lot of businesses, especially on Lake Minnetonka, which is filled with high profile Minnesotans, will bring up the most famous visitors to their place of work. 

John has struggled with many things, most recently his fathers deteriorating health in a battle with Alzheimers, and also added how “the boys are like family to me. I wake up, I see them. I go to sleep, I see them. They’re always there and eager to listen.” Another common answer is Mrs. Johnson, a small old lady who comes in multiple mornings a week to take out the small fishing boats, one of the only true regulars on the side of the business. Always thankful to be there, she often brings donuts or other snacks in for the morning workers, who quickly gobble them up to replace their skipped breakfast. Marcus Meier, who is known marina-wide for his beautiful all-white Super Air Nautique, is the one that stands out the most, however. Usually coming to the marina in the later afternoon, he always makes a point to fill up with gas before he pulls his boat out of the water, no matter how much he used. He says he does it to keep it full for the next time, as he shares the boat with his brother, but most suspect there’s more behind it. He always stay behind to chat with whoever is working the night shift. Anders, who listed Marcus as his favorite customer when asked, also added that he “wouldn’t even consider him a customer, but a friend instead,” with how often they talk. Marcus has struggled with alcoholism in his past, and more recently an abusive relationship. His love for being out on the lake has been a huge help during these tough times, as he never leaves or returns to the dock with anything but a smile, but he also says the marina community as a whole is what really keeps him going. “Coming back to the dock and knowing someone is there, not just willing to listen but understand, is the highlight of my day every time.” He always insists on leaving a $5 bill for anybody that helped him throughout the day, but when you ask any employee, they all agree: the conversation is worth way more than the Lincoln in their pocket. 

(6/1/25)WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis.— In the blink of an eye, a movie script can be created right in front of you. That’s what happened on Saturday at Witter Field. 

Kenny Schultz was hired by the Rafters to be a press box and statistics intern for the summer, and for the first part of the season, that’s exactly what he’s done, along with help the rest of the interns with ballpark clean up, and anything else that’s needed to get ready for game day. And on Saturday, what was needed was a left handed arm out of the bullpen.

Schultz, a Junior Pitcher at UW-Stevens Point, had never played summer ball prior, but convinced coach Tom Zieglowsky to give him a shot. It was something that had been thrown around between the interns for a few days prior to it becoming a serious proposition, but once he got his shot, Ziggy saw something quickly, and after just about 5 minutes, he walked over to the rest of the interns watching in the Rat Trap above and said, “I’ve seen enough, he’s ours.”

”This is a dream come true,” said an emotional Schultz. “I had no idea what to expect coming in this summer. I just needed somewhere to work, I thought this would be a great experience. I never thought I’d be playing.”

Schultz, who went from programming the stats, and even his own walk up song into the mixer in game 1, suited up for game 2 of the doubleheader, and was the first man out of the bullpen, inheriting the bases loaded. He then got 3 outs in just 2 batters faced, and then went three up three down in the 4th inning, including turning another double play on his own. Through 4.2 IP, he allowed just 3 base runners, and only 1 earned run. 

“I thought I was just dressing tonight,” said Schultz. “Honestly I was like oh crap(when I found out I was pitching).”

Despite the quick rise from maybe being on the team, to dressing for game 2, to maybe pitching, and then being the first reliever chosen, his teammates took to him quickly, as during his interview postgame, the player of the game Noah Ruiz covered him in sunglasses, hats, and gloves as if they had been lifelong friends. The entire team came out to greet him when he exited the game, and couldn’t have been more excited for Schultz to get this opportunity.

“I saw him in the locker room today, and I was like what is he doing putting his stuff in there?” said Ruiz. “Then he came out of the pen, and I was like this is perfect. Perfect script.”

“I honestly had zero expectations, cause I was like, whatever happens, this dude is a dog…we weren’t losing that(game), there’s no shot.”

The reality of the situation coming to fruition electrified the stadium, and especially the press box. I was on the call on NWL+, midway through an interview with Rafters co-owner Joe Fonti, when the #20 of Schultz started warming up in the bullpen. When Fonti learned about the situation, he was just as amazed as the rest of the stadium. 

“You talk about grabbing an oar,” said Fonti, taking from the team's slogan for this season. “That is grabbing an oar…I couldn’t imagine the feeling that’s going through his mind right now, that’s amazing.”

It was a story that would have been great no matter the result, but continued getting better and better as the night went on. With every out he was able to record, the press box jumped up with fist pumps and excitement. Staying unbiased that night was a near impossibility. 

Stoic as ever though on the mound, Schultz delivered the performance of a lifetime in his Northwoods League debut. And on a night where Noah Ruiz was doused by the Gatorade shower after having the walk off hit, fittingly, the intern staff filled the cooler back up, and gave Schultz a well deserved ice water shower of his own. With his family looking on, being able to make the trip down from Plover to watch the game, it was a night that won't soon be forgotten in Wisconsin Rapids.

TEMPE, Ariz.-- As a coach, whether it be for basketball, football, hockey, your job is to get the team prepared for game day the best you can. As a professional, that’s easy. The players rest on the snap of your finger, with everything revolving around what you have in store for them that day. As a college coach, it becomes a bit more difficult, with players needing to keep up with academics as well, but ultimately, with everyone living on campus and being there for the same reason, it still remains relatively easy to get your players prepared. With most being on scholarship to play their sport, former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones said it best on Twitter: “We ain’t here to play school.”

However, all this is thrown for a loop when you are a high school coach. To start, your players are between the ages of 14-18. Some can’t even drive themselves to practice. They can live upwards of 30+ minutes away from the practice gym. They have strict regulations on what academic standards they need to keep up with to play, both by the school and many times by their parents, who they still live with. 

And then, turning the attention to the coaches themselves. Many times, they only have one or two assistant coaches, who are also usually employed by the school. A lot of coaches are also teachers at their high school. They have limited access to film. There are rules preventing overdoing practice times. There’s no recruiting allowed, you play with who you have. 

To wrangle just these, would be difficult enough. Combining them both, and it sounds downright impossible. Yet, somehow, Kaimarr Price not only does it, but thrives in it.

Price is in his 4th season as the head coach of the Mountain Pointe boy’s basketball team, and has led the Pride to three state championship games in the past 4 seasons. The only downside, they’ve lost all three of those games to a different team each year. But by any measure, that is incredible success at any level, and especially so at the high school level with no recruiting of any kind.

“Our goal is the championship, so it’s a failure in that sense,” said Price, “but it speaks to the level of consistency, to have a different team every year and still be able to make it that far.”

For Price, a former Mountain Pointe player himself, to lead this type of success at this level is very impressive, especially so early in his head coaching career. In that four year time frame, only three other schools even made the semifinals more than once, let alone the championship game(AZpreps365). The only other school with multiple championship game appearances was Pinnacle, winning back to back titles with all-American guard Nico Maninon, but have not made it past the semi finals since.

Price is also now dealing with the biggest issue in high school coaching: player turnover. In college, there’s always new recruits coming in, and the pros, some new flashy rookie. But for high school, “you play with what you got,” as Price always says. What he now has is two freshmen and five sophomores on varsity, and only a few with true game experience.

“It’s definitely going to be an adjustment, getting them to refocus, knowing when to switch drills, give water breaks, all that,” Price said.

And that is a huge part of high school coaching, even Price himself admitted, is knowing your players. Not just mentally, but knowing that he’s now dealing with 14 and 15 year olds rather than 17-18 year olds getting ready for college. 

Potentially the most telling response from Price, the exact thought process of many high school coaches, wasn’t about the way his players play at all. 

“You’re not just coaching basketball, you’re helping raise young men,” said Price.

This might be the best way to put what being a high school coach is all about, both in the positive sense, as these coaches are mentors to the players, and helping them learn right from wrong. However, it also shows the difficulties the coaches have. They aren’t teaching grown men that have lived their own lives and know everything they need to know, they're talking to 14-18 year olds that are in drivers education and AP U.S. History. 

For Price, though, he has been able to find his way through all these challenges with a few simple tricks. Following him around for just a few minutes, you can see the swagger he carries with him on a day to day basis. He commands respect, but in a calm, kind way. He grabs his cup of coffee and heads to his office at 7:30 am. Classes don’t begin until 8, and his doesn't until 10:38 am. Thus begins the film breakdown. On the orange play next button of Hudl, was Pinnacle, not just the team they’ve been trying to reach the success of mentioned earlier, but also to represent the “Pinnacle” of success they strive for on a daily basis in the classroom. Watching Price break down the pick and roll game is similar to hypnosis, you never can truly understand until it’s right there in front of the eyes. His lesson play is next on the chopping block to be done. His presentations are mostly complete from prior years, but “a spell check and some switch ups keep it interesting for me.” he says with a smile, clearly enjoying his time both as a teacher and coach. He then departs to go teach his classes for the day.

As Price shifts his focus to practice for the day, another unmistakable figure appears: Mark Price, Kaimarr’s father. Mark is now the assistant head coach for Mountain Pointe, and you can see where Kaimarr gets a lot of his swagger. 

“K was always a bit of a handful, but we taught him right from the start how to behave.” said Mark Price, “Me and Sandra couldn’t be more proud of him now, and I’m glad I get to be a part of what he does every day.” 

After hearing this, Logan Demarie, clearly the outspoken one of the group, wanted to chime in as well.

“Coach Mark really helps bring the old school discipline to the team,” he said, then turning to the elder Price and added  “not that you’re old or anything coach.”

What’s clear to see as soon as I set foot in the Mountain Pointe doors is that while they run a tight ship, there’s still room to smile and have fun at times. 

“You play to have fun right?” Kaimarr Price asked rhetorically. “Obviously we play hard and play to win, but we wouldn’t all be here if it wasn’t fun, so why would I pretend I hate it? Never understood the coaches that took it too seriously and never enjoyed it.”

I nodded my head in agreement as both the Price’s called the team over for a break to finish off practice. “One. Two. Three. PRIDE!” The team chants in unison, as they head to their bags and phones, ready to be whisked away from the guidance of Price for the day yet again. But this time, it feels a bit more secure, and I can see how little concern is on the head coach's face as all of his players leave. It’s clear they know who the boss is, despite him not always being present.

Kaimarr Price, kaimarrprice@gmail.com

Mark Price, assistant coach

Logan Demarie, senior player

Twitter.com/Cardale Jones

Mountain Pointe executive staff, Tempeunion.org