1. What is your name, which TSD schools did you attend, and what year did you graduate?
I’m Mike Ball. I attended Conrad Ball Jr. High and graduated from Loveland High School (LHS) in 1991.
2. What have you been doing since graduation, and what is your proudest accomplishment?
After graduation from Loveland High School, I attended Colorado State University (CSU), during which time I came back and coached basketball at LHS. Straight out of CSU, I was offered an opportunity to enter the golf industry and turned pro in 1997. I spent the next 17 years playing golf, teaching golf, and managing Ptarmigan Country Club in northern Colorado. I married my wife Kris in 2000, and we have since had three boys, Landon, Kellen, and Braylon. I left the golf industry to spend more time with my family in 2014, and now I work as the State Director for FNIC, the insurance arm of FNBO banks here in northern Colorado.
3. What is your best memory of school?
Mud volleyball tournaments. Ha!
4. What was your biggest challenge during school?
I was a late bloomer, so believing in myself and recognizing my own potential was something I struggled with.
5. What do you know now that you wish your younger self had known?
The world needs all types of people to make it go around. We should spend our time pursuing the things that move us and not worry about trying to be someone we are not.
6. What advice would you give to students in school now?
In high school, and really through your 20s, you should be focused on trying and failing … and trying again, not perfecting. Use this time to find out who you really are and enjoy the process. Life gets serious soon enough!
7. Name one person who changed your life for the better during school and how they did it.
My mom, Jane. While we battled during those years as I tried to establish my independence, she always loved, supported, and encouraged me… and still does.
8. If you could wave a magic wand and change something about your school years, what would it be?
No question, I’d erase the day my friend Dave took his own life. I think often about the man he would be today, coaching his kid’s sports and being a rockstar in the business community. He had no idea how great life was going to be!
9. How did school prepare you for what you are doing now?
LHS was both a competitive and social environment for me, and the development of those skills has served me well in my business and personal life. People often lose sight of how important social skill development is as part of the high school experience, but it is the first thing I now look for in a potential team member at FNIC.
10. What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
I have been fortunate to be involved in many philanthropic endeavors over the years, but I still have a desire to do more. I plan to be a part of something significant in the near future… I just don’t know what that is yet! We shall see.