Inductees

When Kevin Kelly steps into a gym or stadium, he doesn’t just call a game — he paints it.

For nearly half a century, mid-Missouri listeners have tuned in to hear him turn the sights and sounds of high school sports into living, breathing stories.

“I love what I do. It has never seemed like a job to me,” Kelly said. “When I walk into a gym or stadium I carry with me an empty canvas. Our job is to paint the picture for our listeners. Our voices the brush; our eyes the colors. It is my hope that, over the past 48 years, we’ve been able to paint some Rembrandts that still hang in the minds of the listeners.”

It’s been some career, and his work is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Kelly with the Class of 2026.

He first picked up a microphone in 1978 at KFAL/KKCA radio in Fulton, calling Fulton High School football and basketball for Fulton, North Callaway, South Callaway and Linn high schools, and Westminster and William Woods colleges.

A year later, Ron Medin hired him at KWOS radio in Jefferson City.

For the past 47 years, Kelly has chronicled the athletic heartbeat of the region, providing play-by-play for Jefferson City, Helias Catholic, Blair Oaks and Capital City high schools. His coverage spans football, basketball, wrestling and high school and American Legion baseball, Lincoln University basketball and marquee events like the Lions Club All-Star Football Game, the Norm Stewart Classic and 25 MSHSAA Show-Me Showdowns in basketball.

Over the decades, Kelly has broadcast more than 2,200 games, including 23 MSHSAA state football championship games. His work has earned first-place awards in sports reporting and play-by-play from the Missouri Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2009 and received the MSHSAA Distinguished Service Award.

“It has never been about me. It’s about the great KWOS broadcast team that I’ve had the pleasure to work with for almost 50 years,” Kelly said. “It’s the high schools and teams we cover, the players and coaches on those teams and the fans in the Jefferson City community that support local sports. I am very humbled to even be considered for the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. To be in the Hall of Fame with so many great local coaches, players, teams and journalists is pretty special.”

Kelly is quick to give credit to those who helped him along the way.

“I have been blessed to share the microphone with some incredible people who are also close friends,” he said. “John McGuire, David Brazeal, Steve Duncan, David Fox and Tom Kremer are amazing to work with. Jack Oliver and Steve Morse have been key members of our team for a long time. And of course Ron Medin, who hired me at KWOS. He really helped me become a better reporter and writer. He was a great news director, and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from him.”

Even after decades on the air, calling games doesn’t feel like a job to him.

“Each and every game is a new adventure,” Kelly said. “I can have a bad day, but when I get inside a gym or stadium and put on a headset, that bad day just seems to melt away.”

Beyond play-by-play, Kelly has hosted the KWOS Coaches Show for more than three decades, a Saturday morning program celebrating local high school athletics and giving athletes, coaches and fans a platform to share their stories.

“I love high school sports,” Kelly said. “When an athlete puts on their school uniform, they are representing themselves, their family, their friends and classmates, their school and their community. I don’t know that it gets any better than that.”

Off the air, family is his anchor.

“I would not still be broadcasting today without the love and support of my family, especially my wife Mary,” Kelly said. “She has always been my biggest supporter. Even today, when I am walking out the door to go do a game, she gives me a kiss and tells me to have fun.

Kevin and Mary are the proud parents of Chris, Erin and Ryan (Samantha) and grandparents to Georgia and June. They reside in Jefferson City, a community that has not only been the backdrop for his remarkable career but also the canvas upon which Kelly has painted nearly five decades of Missouri sports history.