John Russell's sports column appears Sundays in Steamboat Today. Contact him at 871-4209 or e-mail jrussell@steamboatpilot.com.

Steamboat Springs — It's that time of year.

The next prep sports season isn't scheduled to start for two months, and just about everyone who walks through the doors of the Steamboat Pilot & Today office expects to find the sports guys sitting back in their chairs, drinking one of those funny-colored adult beverages and surrounded by the smell of cheap sunblock.

Yes, it might be true that this is a slow time of year for the sports department in many small towns across the United States, but in Steamboat Springs, things are just starting to heat up.

In our town, the sports season never really seems to slow down - it simply shifts gears.

This weekend, Steamboat is hosting world-class kayakers, top-level junior tennis players and a large contingent of youth lacrosse players.

In the next few weeks, there will be a parade of youth baseball teams, more golf tournaments than you can swing a 5-iron at and enough sporting activity to mold Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange into a fine-tuned athlete.

And of course, it wouldn't be summer in our mountain valley without the rodeo, adult recreational softball leagues and hundreds of miles of footraces.

I've spent nearly two decades covering this town, and I'm still impressed by the huge number of top-level athletes who call Steamboat home and the large number of activities available.

There are times when I stop and wonder whether this active lifestyle, this love of sports and the desire to compete is normal in other communities or unique to Steamboat Springs?

The fact is that it really doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what a community offers to the people who live in it - and it's clear that Steamboat has a lot to offer.

So the challenge in the sports department isn't finding enough to cover - it's finding the time to cover more.

Sure, I would love to spend several weeks relaxing in my chair, sipping on a drink and wondering how to spend my time before two-a-days start next August at Gardner Field.

But the summer is too short and too filled with action for any reporter to ignore. Steamboat is a mix of the best that sports have to offer. The fall, winter and spring are dominated by prep sports, but the summer offers its own attractions and interests.

The sports staff at the Pilot & Today may not get to cover the professional teams, but we get to cover world-class athletes who love what they do all year.

The summer is filled with a variety, and this small town has enough world-class athletes to fill the pages of any major metro paper.

Yeah, it's that time of year again, but when you live in Steamboat Springs, there is no time to slow down and relax - and that includes our sports department.