Hoxie senior Tucker Baalman is as busy as anyone on a Friday football night. 

Baalman has served as a team manager for the Indians since his freshman year and has all his routines down to a science by this point. 

“I like giving the kids water, helping the coaches out,” Baalman said. “I like to stay on top of things. I have a routine for practices and games, and when it gets messed up, it messes me up. I have to make sure it’s done my way and it’s done correctly.”

He attacks other aspects of his life with the same thoroughness and dedication, providing inspiration to the Hoxie community. 

Baalmaan was born with spina bifida and is paralyzed from the waist down. Despite the disability, he is one of the most accomplished athletes at the school. 

Baalman has competed in the wheelchair races at the state track and field meet in each of the past three years. He’s a standout powerlifter and thrower on the national level as a competitor in the Move United Junior Nationals and also plays basketball through the National Wheelchair Basketball Association. 

“I’m a very active kid,” said Baalman, the Capitol Federal® True Blue® Student of the Week. “I never want to stop doing anything. I have a job in the summer. I don’t like to not be doing something. I always like to be active.

“My parents have always told me to not let myself down and always strive to be good in everything in life.”

Hoxie football coach and athletic director Lance Baar praised Baalman's work ethic. 

“He doesn't let anything stop him from doing whatever it is he wants to do or needs to do,” Baar said. “As a manager of the football team he provides ice cold water for practices and games that he prepares and delivers usually by himself. He is a worker in the weight room as well and always finds a way to put the work in.  If there is something he can't do, he will figure out a way to get it done.”

Baalman got his start in athletics at a young age, competing in track events when he was 5 or 6. He was one of the first competitors in the wheelchair races at the state track meet after the event was added in 2020. 

“When I heard the news I was very excited that they were allowing us to have wheelchair races,” Baalman said. “I started off a little rough but then I got the hang of it.”

Baalman was one of three wheelchair racers in the inaugural event, winning state titles in the 100-meter and 400-meter races as a freshman. He’s placed third in the events in each of the last two years, taking pride in seeing the event grow in competitors. 

“All the lanes were full the last two years,” he said. 
 

For the last two years, he’s worked with a personal trainer out of Kansas City. 

“I went to junior nationals two years ago, and I actually broke a national record,” Baalman said. “One of the officials came up to me and said, ‘We have a trainer for you if you want one.’ That’s helped me go farther in powerlifting.”

Baalman comes from a family of accomplished athletes. His older brothers, Aidan and Miles, were both standouts for the Indians and his younger sister, Kendall, is a freshman this year and currently plays volleyball. 

Baalman has cherished being a part of Hoxie’s strong tradition. 

“It’s a really good small town,” Baalman said. “It’s just the best school. We take pride in our sports and our education.

“Just how far I’ve come in school and all the accomplishments that I’ve done, I’ll remember all the good things that have happened to me at Hoxie High School.”

Baalman plans to attend a junior college after high school. He would love to compete in sports in college if the opportunity presents itself but would like to stay close to home. 

He credits his parents, Mitchell and Lola, for helping instill a desire to stay active and try new things. 

“I give them the most credit,” Baalman said. “They help me with everything.”