On Nov. 6, the Chico State women's soccer team fell to Stanislaus State in the opening round of the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship tournament. The loss effectively ended the Wildcats' season. It also ended an amazing 43-year run in Chico State Athletics for the Smyth family.
 
Jojo Smyth, a senior defender for Chico State, wrapped up the final Chico State career for a family of Wildcats. Smyth's father Steve was a basketball and baseball player for the Wildcats who married Lynn, a gymnast at Chico State. Together they raised Jojo, her older brother and former Chico State baseball player, Casey, and middle brother Brett, who played collegiate basketball at Butte Community College and Emerson College in Massachusetts, after spending many summers playing pickup games in Acker and Shurmer Gym.
 
As a family, they've been a part of a number of successful teams over the years. Now, with the Smyth's run in area athletics winding down, it's only fair to look back at how it all started.
 
Steve and Lynn
In 1972, Steve Smyth came to Chico State to play baseball. The school's basketball coach also convinced him to play on the freshman team, but the diamond was Smyth's main focus.
 
Unfortunately, Smyth battled injuries during his time as a Wildcat. He spent parts of three years on the team before he stepped away in his senior year. Without the injuries, Smyth said he could have brought something to the mound.
 
"I wasn't anything special skill-wise," Smyth said. "Had I been healthy, I think I could have done well pitching."
 
Around the same time, Lynn was establishing herself as a four-year gymnast for the Wildcats. She came to Chico from San Carlos High School and ended up making lasting connections at Chico State, like close friend Jo Rackham. She's stayed close with many of her teammates, and she's learned a lot about hard work that's helped her later in life.
 
"Monday through Friday, we worked out every day and had meets on the weekends," Lynn Smyth said. "All the hard work you had to put in, that's really helped me be a stronger person."
 
 
The two met through the physical education major and soon spent time hanging out at the Graduate or tubing down the Sacramento River. They married in 1982. Casey, Brett and Jojo soon followed.
 
Lynn, one of the original partners in Athletic Horizons Gymnastics, introduced all three children to the gym from a young age. When they were old enough for things like tee-ball and youth soccer, however, things changed.
 
"They needed a ball in their hands," Steve Smyth said.
 
The children each picked up multiple sports, which meant very busy schedules for Steve and Lynn. As soon as school got out, Lynn said, the family would split time between a multitude of practices and games. But that doesn't mean it wasn't fun for the parents. They met many friends through their children's athletics, and being there for each child was an enjoyable experience.
 
"It was hectic, but I'd love to do it again," Steve Smyth said.
 
Steve coached all three kids in various sports, teaching them the right way to play the game. But as far as influence goes, Smyth said the community around them was a big factor. The kids grew up going to camp after camp at Chico State, meeting revered coaches like Lindsay Meggs, Puck Smith and Kim Sutton at young ages. It's the culture they grew up in, and it's been a part of each of their lives.
 
"Chico State athletics has had a major influence in their lives," Steve Smyth said. "They thought going to Chico State Athletics events was like going to Notre Dame events."
 
 
Casey at Bat

Some of the oldest Smyth child's earliest memories are of going to Chico State events. Casey remembers cooking burgers and hot dogs out in the baseball fields with his dad before heading to the stadium to watch football games at night.
 
"It was a huge influence in my life," Casey Smyth said. "I grew up watching Chico State baseball and basketball and football. When I came down to it later on and I had the opportunity to go play there, it was something I really wanted to do."
 
Casey was in tee-ball by age 5, along with youth soccer and basketball. He added football to the list at Chico High, but ultimately pursued baseball in college. After being a Panther for four years, Smyth took a winding road before eventually arriving across the street at Chico State.
   
Smyth opted to play college baseball in Wisconsin. He spent a year and a half there before transferring to Mendocino Junior College to play the spring 2005 campaign. For his final two seasons, Casey had the opportunity to play for Chico State. He seized it.
 
In 2006, Smyth was an outfielder on the Chico State team that came within one strike of a national championship. Smyth went down with injury towards the end of the season, but he traveled with the team to the College World Series.
 
"It was the experience of a lifetime. I wouldn't trade it for anything," Casey Smyth said. "Game in and game out, you were on the edge of your seat. That group of guys, they were a bunch of gamers."
 
Smyth was also a Wildcat during an important coaching change. Meggs, the Division II National Coach of the Year in 2006, left for a Division I job. New Head Coach Dave Taylor led Smyth and the other Wildcats to the NCAA West Regional in his first year running the show. Smyth and Taylor have stayed close since; when Smyth married former Butte basketball player Kelly Payne a few months ago, Taylor threw batting practice to Smyth's groomsmen on the day of the wedding.
 
When it was all said and done, Smyth was the first of three children to experience success at the college level. He offered some perspective behind the siblings' aptitude for winning.
 
"I think we all kind of have that mentality that we don't like to lose," Smyth said. "We may not be the most athletic, but we're willing to work hard in season and in the offseason. That's something that kind of rubs off on people."
 
 
Ballin' with Brett
Brett Smyth was next in line. He's two years younger than Casey, but he played the same sports growing up. As competitive as the brothers were, Brett said playing against each other was generally avoided. When they did face off, though, the sibling rivalry became a little heated.
 
"He'd get bully buckets, take me down in the post," Smyth said. "I'm not going to say I ever beat him."
 
By age 12 or 13, basketball had become his passion. He was well rounded in other sports, too. His family helped with that.
 
"We spent a lot of time in the backyard working on jumpers, taking swings," Smyth said. "There was a whole lot of time spent there, especially with my dad."
 
He played three sports at Chico High, but didn't see a future in college football as a 175-pound tight end. He opted to continue playing basketball, something he always found time for.
 
"I enjoyed playing even out of season," Smyth said. "I'd go find a hoop any time of the year and shoot."
 
Often time that meant mixing it up with the Chico State players during open gym.
 
Smyth played basketball at Butte College upon graduation. He was a key part of Butte's 2008 Golden Valley Conference Championship team, leading GVC bench players with 34 3-pointers and a scoring average of 5.1 per game.
 
"I was a scrappy player, shooting 3's and trying to wreak some havoc on defense," Smyth said. "That's kind of how I rolled."
 
After two years as a Roadrunner, Smyth took his talents to Emerson College in Massachusetts, but a string of hip injuries limited his playing time. Still, Smyth said the experience was incredible. He played for a coach that had led several NBA-bound athletes, and he was living in the heart of Boston. For Smyth, it was an easy sell.
 
Looking back on his experiences at Butte and Emerson, Brett fielded the same question as his brother. What makes the Smyth siblings successful?
 
"I think we're pretty scrappy," he said. "We're not exceptionally talented. But hard work, that's where we separate ourselves in some way. By putting in the extra time."
 
 
Jojo joins in

Years after her brothers played at the college level, Jojo Smyth hit the scene. Jojo, although eight years younger than Casey and six younger than Brett, had a similar athletic background. She played three sports as a child, including soccer with the Butte United program from fourth grade up to high school.
 
Being the youngest, Jojo Smyth had the opportunity to watch her brothers play at the college level. She watched Casey's team on TV during the College World Series, and spent many nights watching Brett hustle up and down the court for Chico High and Butte.
 
"I grew up in a really sports-oriented family," Smyth said. "I learned from my brothers how to compete."
 
She followed Casey's footsteps and, after helping the Panthers to four straight Eastern Athletic League soccer titles, left town out of high school. She played two seasons at City College of San Francisco, helping the Rams reach the State Elite Eight during her freshman year and the State Final Four as a sophomore.
 
"It was great for me to get out," Smyth said. "Being exposed to a faster speed of play and in general a higher level of soccer, I was able to bring up my skills and learn a lot about the game."
 
Sutton recruited Smyth to come home to Chico State, the coach she met when she was 8 or 9 years old. At first, she was hesitant to come back. Smyth had grown a lot as a person in her time away, and she enjoyed her two seasons in San Francisco. In the end, the opportunity to play in front of friends and family for the team she grew up watching was just too good to pass up.
 
"When I was a kid, I came to a lot of camps here. I looked up to the Chico State girls," Smyth said. "To get a chance to be down on that field, it's pretty cool."
 
Smyth was an All-California Collegiate Athletic Association Honorable mention defender on a 2014 squad that fell in the CCAA championship match. This year, Smyth helped Chico State to a 12-5-2 overall record before injuries cut her season short.
 
It wasn't the way she wanted to end her college career, but Smyth said she had plenty to take away from her time as a Wildcat. She referenced Chico State's two double-overtime wins over Stanislaus State in the past two seasons as something that gets her pumped up. It showed a lot about the team she was apart of, Smyth said. They just don't quit.
 
In all, Smyth spent four impressive college seasons both away and in Chico, which sounds a lot like her brothers before her. So, Jojo, what's the Smyth secret to success?
 
"We all have a hard work ethic. We don't give up, and we're pretty positive people," Smyth said. "We have a competitiveness and drive to win. That's a big part of how our whole family is."
 
 
End of an Era
The end of Jojo's season marked an inevitable end to the last Smyth's athletic career in the area. From Steve and Lynn's careers to Casey and Brett's playing time to Jojo's final game this season, it had to end at some point.
 
"I kind of felt this would go on forever," Steve Smyth said. "But I knew it wouldn't."
 
From a parent's perspective, the run these younger Smyths had couldn't have been any sweeter. Steve and Lynn had the rare opportunity to watch each of their children play college sports from the comfort of their own backyard.
 
"It was a parent's dream, as long as it was what the kids wanted to do," Steve Smyth said. "It was as good as it gets."
 
It wasn't just being able to watch their kids play, though. It was the community the Smyth's became a part of because of it. Team barbeques after games at the Smyth house were a staple. When teammates who lived far away didn't have a place to stay during Easter breaks, they were welcome at the Smyth home.
 
"It's been a great ride," Steve Smyth said. "But the next chapter is going to be special as well."
 
By the next chapter, Smyth means his kids' lives after sports. Since graduating, Casey has become a local real estate agent. Brett has worked at a mental health center in Massachusetts and as an assistant coach in the Bay Area. Jojo graduates in the spring and plans to look into graduate school for adaptive physical activity. Of course, all three siblings' sports experience has left an impression of the rest of their lives.
 
"They're driven and they show really great leadership," Lynn Smyth said. "It's made them stronger people and more passionate. They'll shine in so many other different ways."
 
When they shine, all three children will tell you they have mom and dad to thank. Each one credits the influence of their parents for their successes on and off the field and court.
 
"They've been a huge support system," Jojo Smyth said. "They've gone to every single game from when we were little until now. They taught us how to compete and be a good sport. They're competitive themselves, so we learned a lot."
 
Steve and Lynn started this family decades ago. When they married in 1982, they couldn't have known how it would all unfold. As their kids grew up, though, there was no doubt in their parents' minds that they'd excel in sports. And they knew exactly why.
 
"They had a great work ethic. All three of them," Steve Smyth said. "They had a passion, a passion to lift weights, condition. They never got burnt out. They just couldn't get enough.
 
"It comes from within them. They have a love for their teammates and for their sport," Lynn Smyth added. " Just from the way they come across. They're super dedicated, sometimes to a fault, just because they care. I'm so proud of all of them."