My competitive nature was nurtured through years of playing team sports, mainly soccer, in my youth.

Newspaper staffs are also a team in many ways, and while the team awards are the best, individual recognitions are icing on the cake.

That was the case in 2017. With more than 30 awards in Monett and another Gold Cup in Cassville, I was also named the 2017 William E. James Missouri Young Journalist of the Year.

In the nomination letter, the most notable improvements since my arrival had been online. Website traffic to both pages grew exponentially — 87 percent in two years.

One of my main focuses when coming to Missouri was to make the website as attractive as possible, easy to use and both informative and entertaining.

That success, plus my coverage of the seven-man sheriff race in 2016, made me a prime candidate for that award, and I was honored to accept it.

As great as that day was, it was still not my proudest moment. That would not occur for a few more years.

The 2018 contest was marked by Cassville’s fourth Gold Cup in a row. It was also the first time I had ever won an award for video. The ones I took were of the flooding in Cassville on April 29, 2017, which inundated the Greenway Trail, city park and along Highway 248.

As journalists, we spend so much time taking still photos that we at times forget we can take video, as well. This was a time I’m glad I didn’t forget.

A year later, Cassville again won the Gold Cup, tallying 12 total firstplace awards, including three individual firsts for me that I will never forget.

I took top honors in Best Video, for video taken of the Drake Reese field goal and ensuing celebration at the Cassville football team’s win over Lamar in 2018 — snapping the Tigers’ win streak that was the longest active in the nation at the time. I also won in best investigative reporting for my coverage of the events surrounding the three dogs shot in Eagle Rock in March 2018, a truly sad story that never truly reached a conclusion for the victim. The other first I won’t forget was a feature story on Damien “Superbubba” Tarr’s battle with third-degree burns. That kid was one of the toughest I’ve ever met, and the interview was an emotional one.

That year was one away from the best ever. In 2020, with COVID-19 canceling the annual convention, awards were announced online through a video. Monett had won 14 awards that year, and I did not expect that to be enough to win a Gold Cup, but it was!

For the first time, and only time still, The Monett Times was the best small daily in the state, and the Cassville Democrat was the best small weekly in the state.

The funny thing was, I was driving while the video was playing and missed that Monett had also won. It was two weeks before I got an email from Missouri Press asking where I wanted the Gold “Cups” to be mailed.

As our News Editor Murray Bishoff was retiring after more than 30 years with the Times, it was a fitting send-off and made me the most proud of our papers than I had ever been.

Winning one Gold Cup is difficult enough, and winning two in the same year may never happen again.

Last year, Cassville’s streak finally came to an end, but Monett kept the Gold Cup for a second year in a row. Along with my pride in the papers’ performances, I was also proud for winning first place in a category I had never entered — column writing.

To be honest, I struggled early on with taking over Murray’s weekly column space. Most of the time, I feel like I don’t have much of consequence to say.

However, writing a weekly column for the past couple years has been one of the more rewarding parts of my 10 years as a journalist.

As this year’s award season approaches, I am anxious about our chances for winning a Gold Cup again. Whether we do or don’t, one thing is certain, we at the papers and in Barry and Lawrence counties have plenty to be proud of, and I’m proud to be here reporting on it all.

Kyle Troutman has served as the editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014. In 2017, he was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or ktroutman@cherryroad.com.