Time Out with Kyle Shouse (1999 Napa High graduate)

Vince D’Adamo: What did you enjoy most about competing in athletics throughout your life?

Kyle Shouse: The thing I enjoyed the most about competing in athletics throughout my life was the actual competition between teammates, opponents and within myself to try and get better. It was extremely challenging, but that’s what made sports fun. You learn some very valuable lessons when you compete in athletics, lessons I still use to this day.

D’Adamo: What have you been doing since graduating from high school?

Shouse: After high school I attended the University of California at Santa Barbara and graduated with a degree in History in 2003. While at UCSB I earned an R.O.T.C scholarship, and upon graduating college I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Aviation Branch. After my commissioning, I attended flight school where I flew Close Air Support for 11 years in the AH-64D Apache Longbow Helicopter. In 2014 I transitioned out of the Active Army as a Major, and went back to school and earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. Currently, I live in Colorado Springs with my wife Lisa, working as a strategic planning/ Business Development fellow for a company that helps small to medium size defense firms and Technology companies grow and compete for defense contracts in the aerospace/ cybersecurity industry.

D’Adamo: What was your favorite class at Napa High?

Shouse: I had numerous classes I enjoyed going to while in high school, but my favorite by far was Mr. Michalski’s History class. He inspired us to really learn the importance of understanding history, and the consequences of societies who fail in doing that. He was one of the major reasons why I pursued a History degree in college.

D’Adamo: What was your favorite athletic moment at Napa High?

Shouse: My favorite athletic moment at Napa High came when coach Mike Brown called me into his office my freshmen year and told me I had made the varsity baseball team. I think I slept in my uniform the first night they passed out our jerseys. I was so excited to have made the team.

D’Adamo: How much do you feel you have grown personally since graduating from high school and how much of that do you trace to athletics?

Shouse: I think I have grown leaps and bounds since graduating high school. If you would have told me at 19 that I would be mature enough to lead an aviation platoon of four Apache Helicopter, eight pilots and 15 crew chiefs in combat by the age of 24, I probably would have laughed at you. But many of the same traits and habits I learned while playing sports at Napa High, helped guide me throughout my career. Hard work, dedication, mental toughness, resiliency and preparation are all traits I learned while playing baseball and football for the Indians and still use today.

D’Adamo: Within your family, who have been the most influential people?

Shouse: The most influential person in my life growing up would have to be my mother. When I was eight years old she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, which she battled for 20 years. But growing up watching her lose her hair, but at the same time put on different color wigs to cheer up her students and make them laugh, continuing to pursue her love for teaching, all the while knowing how much pain she was in and never let on, was extremely influential. It changed my perspective at an early age of what “hard” was. It reinforced in me the belief that no matter how bad things get, if you keep moving forward you will eventually succeed. I truly admired the way she always put on a good face and attacked life the way she did.

D’Adamo: Name a historical figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports you would most like to meet.

Shouse: If I could meet a historical figure from any era, it would have to be Abraham Lincoln I love his writings and admire his courage. I would want to know how he was able to handle being the President, while at the same time managing a war that could have changed the look of the United States forever. How was he able to keep the Northern states focused on preserving the Union after a few military setbacks during the war, and how was he able to heal the divide after the war to keep the country together? In my opinion, Abraham Lincoln was the greatest president to have ever held office.