Inductees

In sports, sometimes meeting just the right person can set you on an incredible career path.

During his Missouri State University days in Springfield, Bob Belote involved himself in campus recreation and worked part-time for the then-named Springfield Park Board, where he met his future wife, Deana. He also became friends with Jodie Adams, (MSHOF President’s Award 2017), the then-Superintendent of Recreation for the Park Board.

“Jodie is a human dynamo and was a personal inspiration to me, running tennis leagues, managing softball complexes, operating public pools, overseeing huge special events, etc.,” Belote said. “Jodie was gracious enough to counsel me on her position and a career in the field of parks and recreation – something I am forever grateful to her for doing.

Two decades later, after helping to manage parks and recreation operations in three other cities, Belote returned to Springfield, where he eventually put in 20 more years with the Park Board, including 11 as its leader. In fact, his successes are why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Belote with the Class of 2024.

Initially, Belote served as Superintendent of Recreation, then Assistant Director. As Director of Parks from 2012 to 2024, he oversaw a system featuring 105 parks, trails and recreational facilities.

A 1981 graduate of Kickapoo High School who later earned degrees from MSU and the University of Missouri, Belote was Springfield’s fourth Parks Director in the past 70 years.

He led the 100^th anniversary celebrations of the Park Board (2013) and Dickerson Park Zoo (2023). He also steered the Park Board to CAPRA national accreditation (2016 and 2021), a distinction earned by less than 2% of all Parks and Recreation agencies throughout the United States.   

Belote oversaw team operations of the Springfield Lasers, a World TeamTennis franchise, which won the WTT Championship King Cup in 2018 and 2019.

During his tenure, the Park Board hosted numerous MSHSAA state championships in tennis, softball, golf, baseball and soccer, as well as national tournaments for softball, BMX and pickleball — each fueling significant sports tourism dollars for the city. He also helped orchestrate $27 million in renovations of the Cooper Sports Complex, currently underway, providing new turf facilities for soccer, softball and baseball.

Belote was recognized by the Kansas City Chiefs as a “Hometown Hero” during the 2022-2023 season.

Belote is particularly proud of keeping parks and trails open during the pandemic, giving residents a respite from stay-home orders.

Call it some career for a Springfield native, who as a kid, played Park Board youth sports and frequented Sequiota Park.

After graduate school, Belote began his career in Blue Springs, Missouri. He moved on to serve as Director of Parks for Sioux City, Iowa, and Independence, Missouri, before returning to Springfield in 2004.

As Director of Parks in his hometown, Belote worked hard to carry out the vision of predecessors Dan Kinney and Adams, as well as work with the Park Board’s nearly 300 community groups.

“There’s just never enough public funding to fulfill all of the facility hopes and dreams that everyone has for the park system, but I’m exceptionally proud of all that we have gotten done in the way of community partnerships and collaborations,” Belote said.

Examples of ongoing collaboration include the development of Springfield Botanical Gardens with Springfield Sister Cities Association and Friends of the Garden; Zoo redevelopment with Friends of the Zoo; SPARC programs with Springfield Public Schools; and trail expansion with Ozark Greenways.

That said, Belote emphasizes he was not a one-person show.  Far from it. Instead, everyone on his team – and community partners – made success possible.

“To really achieve and succeed in sports or life in general – it truly is a team effort,” Belote said. “That’s the hallmark of the Springfield-Greene County Park System and, like all truly great sport franchises, it really does take everyone pulling together for a common goal.”

He thanks mentors such as his father, Bob Belote Sr., as well as Kinney and Adams, David Ostlund, Roscoe Righter, Dr. Gary Shoemaker and Dr. Randy Vessell.

Even better, Belote long had the support of his wife, Deana, and their children, Alex and Abbey (who grew up at Cooper Tennis Complex), son-in-law, Will, as well as his parents, Bob and Jean, and in-laws, Bill and Shirley Applegate.

“It’s been an incredibly rewarding and humbling career,” Belote said, “as I’ve gotten to help manage one of the most special and vibrant parks and recreation systems in the United States – right here in my hometown of Springfield, Missouri!”