TAMPA, Fla. — What started out as a father coaching his little girl in softball, has blossomed into a lifelong father-daughter duo.
First Mya Anderson followed in her father’s footsteps in sports, now she is following them once again as a UPS driver. She says she couldn’t have a better coach.
Whether it’s climbing aboard the back of the truck to deliver packages, or stepping into the batter’s box to deliver an RBI for her softball team, Mya’s biggest supporter and inspiration has always been her dad.
Dwayne Anderson played pro football with the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL and St. Louis Cardinals of the NFL, before going on to be a UPS driver for the past 33 years.
“Kind of like football, you meet a lot of different people, for the majority, most people are pretty nice,” said Dwayne.
Mya always aspired to be an athlete just like her father.
“If I was a boy I would have definitely been playing football but I was a girl so I went the softball route, pretty much played softball since I was a little kid,” said Mya.
Twice Mya was recognized as an All-American collegiate athlete. Following graduation she didn’t have to look far before deciding what she wanted to do next, drive for UPS just like her dad.
“Oh I was excited, I know what type of person Mya is and I knew this would be a job that she could do,” said Dwayne.
Mya says above all else what her father has taught her the most is to be positive.
However, even at work, Mya is still vulnerable to a dad joke.
“She’s had a few incidents with dogs already,” said Dwayne.
“He just told me, ‘don’t let them get you,’ that’s about it,” said Mya.
Dwayne said besides the uniforms, things haven’t changed all that much in the past 20 years.
“Always going to be a dad no matter what,” said Dwayne.
