Meet our six SCHEELS Hidden Hometown Heroes of 2025! These heroes were named from 11 outstanding community members, who were nominated by their peers as Heroes of Youth Sports. Through this partnership between the Bismarck Larks, Bismarck Magazine, and SCHEELS, we are recognizing those unsung heroes who go above and beyond to ensure children have access and support to thrive in any sport. Read the stories of our 2025 heroes, as featured in the May issue of Bismarck Magazine, and help us clebrate them at Larks games throughout the season and win a prize package, made possible by SCHEELS.

An ever-present figure in the Bismarck Mandan community, Dr. Steve Chuppe is an avid sports fan, a coach, and is passionate about the lifelong benefits athletics brings to both the mind and body. “I’ve coached for 30 years, so its deeper than helping athletes stay at peak performance. I’ve coached baseball, fast pitch softball, and basketball, but baseball is my biggest passion. I’ve coached from the youth levels to high school and that’s where the bulk of my volunteer time is,” explains Dr. Steve.

Growing up in the Badlands, Dr. Steve participated in rodeo, baseball, basketball, football and track and loved every minute of it. “I had a few coaches growing up that really steered me. I left home at an early age for country school and then worked on different ranches in the summers. Those coaches helped me learn about working hard and being accountable and really made me believe in myself,” Dr. Steve says. “That’s something I appreciate to this day.”

Being able to impart the values his coaches taught him is an important part of Dr. Steve’s time coaching. “Coaching is more about developing kids as human beings rather than developing them to be good at their sport,” he explains. “Theres a big difference in a kid that believes in themselves and one that doesn’t, so I always thought it was important to teach kids to work hard and be accountable for their work level and then when you get out there trust them and that they can do it. Let them know you trust them. And, if you can’t trust them then you need to work harder with them to get them there.”

In addition to coaching, Dr. Steve has played an integral role in local capital campaigns, co-chairing three for the Municipal Ball Park. One was for the girls’ fastpitch complex and now a second one for the Municipal Ball Park. “It’s fun because it builds the community, not just a structure for the athletes, but something more. I’m really proud of that,” Dr. Steve says with a smile.

Matt Liudahl has been involved with the Bismarck Youth Fastpitch Softball Association (BYFSA) for eight years and president for the past six. He got involved when his oldest daughter started playing fastpitch softball when she was in second grade. “I got involved with the board her second year as a member at large, then became secretary, and then got nominated to be president,” Matt explains.

When Matt started with the board, the BYFSA program had around 120 participants. Now, the league has grown to almost 400 players and softball has become a huge sport in the Bismarck community. While softball is one of the newer sanctioned sports in North Dakota, the BYFSA was formed in 2008 and now serves players in the 6U, 8U, 10U, and 11 and Up age divisions.

When asked what makes him so passionate about BYFSA Matt has this to say, “What really made me passionate about it was wanting to be involved in my kid’s program. I’ve tried to dive in headfirst and be a part of it as best I can. I see the passion that comes out in all the kids and families really want their kids to be successful and I want to make it the best experience possible and help them be as successful as possible. We want it to go so well that the players and parents don’t realize everything going on in the background. I want to make it as seamless as possible.”

To do this, Matt relies on his fellow board members and volunteers. “Our board is made up of amazing people. We have people that really put in a lot of effort and a lot of time, and we support each other. We each have our roles and it’s a great group of people that really care about the sport and want to keep it going.”

Bismarck Youth Football has been a force in youth athletics for as long as anyone can remember. The modern iteration and its success is in large part due to the tireless volunteer work of Kurt Ohnell and Derek Arndt.

Kurt answered an ad in the Bismarck Tribune in 1999 for volunteer coaches for the Broncos and never looked back. He coached from 1999 through 2024 and in 2005 took over operations of the club. In 2006 he was instrumental in reorganization, creating a board of directors and growing the program to 12 teams. He stepped down as president in 2009 and continued to coach through 2024.

Derek took over from Kurt, inheriting a quickly growing program in need of storage space and a focus on marketing. Derek has worked hard to add camps and tournaments and move everything over to the Community Bowl. This year, over 750 kids and approximately 150 coaches will be a part of the program.

When asked their ‘Why’ Kurt and Derek had this to say:

Kurt: “The opportunity to make an impact on a child’s life, let them know there’s another adult in this world that cares about them. Life’s tough. You deal with divorced parents, kids struggling with things, single parent settings. I remember as a kid wondering, do these guys really care about me? Where do I fit in in this world? And if I can give that to a kid for two hours a night at practice and on Saturdays then at the end of the year give them a pat on the back and let them know there’s somebody in this world that cares about them. The program gave me that, so for me to give that back to the program was important.”

Derek: “These kids come from a variety of backgrounds. Some kids are good athletes and all they’ve wanted to do is play football since two years old and other kids are just trying something out. I believe that for young boys, especially in a world of Xbox and social media, football is the ultimate team sport. It takes all 11 guys to score a touchdown. To teach them at a young age to be part of something bigger than themselves, I can’t help but feel like this is my responsibility to teach. We want these boys to become good footballs players, but ultimately want them to become good men.”

Derek and Kurt have contributed to the growth and stability of a fantastic program, providing countless opportunities for youth football players in Bismarck. They have built a lasting legacy, not only in the program itself but one that will continue to thrive through its past, present, and future players.

Jazmyn Peterson is a second-generation dance studio owner and has been dancing all her life. “My mom owned a studio before I was born and I grew up doing that,” Jazmyn explains. “I moved away for college and danced at NDSU and when I moved to Bismarck with my now husband I taught at a local studio for almost 10 years. When I got pregnant, I had to stop teaching, my body just couldn’t do both. When my daughter was born, I finally got the courage to follow my own dream and open a studio.” Just two months after her first daughter was born, Jazmyn opened Jazz Co. Dance Academy in Mandan.

The studio has grown drastically in three years serving around 100 dancers with five teachers. Jazmyn teaches Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, reserving Wednesdays and weekends for family time. Jazmyn plans two shows a year, one in December with a Christmas theme and one in May with rotating themes, this year’s theme being ‘Under the Big Top’.

When asked about her passion Jazmyn responds, “Once I got out of college and into the world, I realized that these kids need a safe space. One of the big things for me is teaching body positivity. They don’t have to meet the mold. The big thing we say in every single class is ‘I can do hard things.’ You know hard is just hard, it’s not impossible.”

What sets Jazz Co. Dance Company apart from other studios, other than Jazmyn herself, is that they don’t do a competition team. The value in this is immeasurable, Jazmyn feels. “We’re there because we love it, and I tell every one of my students that I love them. Some people may find that weird, but they matter to me. They’re enough, they’re important and this is a safe space whether they’ve had a good day or a bad day, it’s freeing for everybody. And,” Jazmyn adds, “it’s about the love of dance. No competitions, it’s just about dancing and loving it and kids get to be themselves and leave feeling good themselves.”

Ricardo Pierre-Louis was introduced to soccer on the streets of his hometown, Laoigan, Haiti, an impoverished town south of Haiti’s capital, Port Au Prince. “I played soccer for an opportunity to eat, as meals were scarce in Haiti,” Pierre-Louis explains.

What started as a game played out of necessity, quickly became a game of freedom. Pierre-Louis was able to get into school in Haiti as a young boy, a feat only afforded to those who tested into it and honed his soccer skills on the street. It wasn’t long before his skills were noticed and he ascended to soccer stardom via Lee University, the Haitian national team, and MLS teams Columbus and Cleveland. The three time All-American and Hall of Famer recognizes the impact soccer has had on his life. “Education was my foundation, and soccer was my way out, a vehicle to get out of Haiti,” Pierre-Louis says.

Now, the founder of the successful Magic Soccer Club in Bismarck, Pierre-Louis is sharing his knowledge and passion for the game of soccer with local youth. “I wanted to give kids the opportunity to develop to their full potential, not just as soccer players but also as human beings,” he explains. “I know how soccer really helped me with the teaching of life, the discipline, the resilience, and the teamwork attitude, and being leaders…I learned all that from soccer. My coaches implanted those values in me. This all shaped my life off the field and made me who I am today.”

Pierre-Louis is also using his platform to give back to his native country through the Lespwa Lavi, or Hope for Life. “We offer a clean water program, and we empower women, help them start businesses. We have a school that we were able to build with the support of the people of Bismarck and 400 children go to school every day. They are going to school, being fed, and playing soccer. Those that are not in soccer are pursuing music and art. We have changed a whole community with the idea and vision of what I had gone through and we didn’t want other children to go through. I am very thankful for Bismarck, the Bismarck community and my wife.”

Pierre-Louis is passionate about nurturing leadership, creating opportunities, and giving back to a game that has given him so much.

When Mark Zinke was in high school sports were everything. Little did he know that that passion for sports would lead him down a path to becoming one of the most beloved physical education teachers in the area.

“When I was in high school, sports were my whole life and I wanted to keep being involved and I thought coaching was going to do that for me. At the time, to be a coach, you had to be a teacher. I loved PE and had the best PE teachers growing up, so I decided probably sophomore or junior year of high school that I wanted to be a PE teacher and coach so I went to school at Valley City State and got my degree there and that’s how it started,” Mark explains.

Mark has garnered favor with his students by creating inclusive environments, helping students understand what it means to push themselves and improve, and to work as a team. That, coupled with his love for kids, makes for a wonderful learning environment in and out of the gym.

To say Mark loves what he does would be an understatement. “As far as what I thought teaching was going to be and what it is now, honestly, it’s kind of blown me out of the water. It’s not really a job, I’m pretty lucky,” Mark says smiling. “I get to go to school and have fun with the kids and build relationships and there’s even some days where I’m like ‘I really get paid to do this?’”

While coaching older kids has taken a back burner for now, Mark is keeping his skills sharp with his children’s youth teams. ”I’ve been doing a lot of kindergarten and pre-school coaching recently as my son is in kindergarten. Some of these kids this is their first time touching a basketball, baseball, or football. To see them go from not knowing how to hold or throw and at the end of the year they’re doing awesome and having so much fun, that sums up the joy of it.”

For as much as Mark puts into his students, they fill his cup right back up with each new day. “It’s a lot, you’re drained, but the next day when you’re getting all those hugs like they haven’t seen you for a month, but they just saw you the day before, that’s the reward,” Mark says.