Cameron goes back to school with special Players' Weekend spikes

This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers’ Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

KANSAS CITY – Every time Noah Cameron has taken the mound for the Royals this year, the people of St. Joseph, Mo., are locked in, watching one of their own from the town just an hour north of Kauffman Stadium.

To pitch for the team he grew up watching as a kid has been a surreal experience for the 26-year-old Cameron, who was born and raised in St. Joseph and still lives nearby with his wife, Casey, and their growing family.

To watch the town rally behind him as he’s broken into the big leagues, establish himself as an American League Rookie of the Year candidate, and help the Royals stay in playoff contention has been even more humbling. Cameron hears stories all the time about kids looking up to him as a role model, local businesses selling Cameron merchandise and restaurants filling up to watch his starts.

For Players’ Weekend -- three days in which players showcase their interests and stories through personalized bats and cleats -- it seemed like a no-brainer for Cameron to honor his hometown.

When he takes the mound Friday against the White Sox, Cameron will be wearing custom cleats that feature Central High School, where he was a three-time first-team All-Conference pitcher and played four sports over his four years there before graduating in 2018.

“Some people love high school, some people hate it,” Cameron said. “But I loved all the sports, all the practices. Kept me busy. I still have best friends from high school that I hang out with all the time. Those are my roots. I feel so connected to Central, and I think I always will.

“And it helped pave the way for all of this.”

Wearing the cleats is special for Cameron, but the backstory behind getting them made is even better.

The cleats, which feature actual pieces of a Central HS baseball jersey and Cameron’s high school No. 5, were designed and custom-made by Brian Willis, an artist who graduated two years ahead of Cameron from Central. Willis moved to Florida a year ago, but lived in St. Joseph his whole life up until that point. He and Cameron weren’t close in high school, but Willis has followed Cameron’s career into the big leagues.

“I always went to Royals games as a kid,” Willis said. “And for Noah, we didn’t know each other too well back then, but it made me really happy to see him go get his career started, making it to the Major Leagues with the Royals.”

After Cameron’s debut this year, Willis reached out and told him about his work. Willis has always loved sports, always loved shoes and always has been creative. He used to get in trouble in art class for “drawing shoes and pretty much nothing else,” he said.

Willis worked as a contractor designing custom cleats for the past two years before leaving to start his own business. Cameron’s cleats are Willis’ first project on his own.

“It’s just a cool way to express myself and express what my clients want,” Willis said. “I think they appreciate being able to have special occasions to be able to show off what they care about or cool designs.”

Cameron told Willis he’d like to represent St. Joseph and Central HS in some way but then let Willis surprise him with the design. Willis connected with Central’s athletic department and got his hands on some old Central No. 5 baseball jerseys. He sewed pieces of the jersey onto the shoe, a new aspect of customization that he’s dabbling with now, and painted the rest of the design.

“It’s like a puzzle to me,” Willis said. “You get a shoe and you deconstruct it. That’s the best way to make it look cool.”

Seeing athletes wear his designs on the field has been the most rewarding part of Willis’ job, but watching Cameron pitch in these cleats Friday will mean even more.

“Just like Noah, I’ll never forget where I came from,” Willis said. “It’s cool to put St. Joe on the map a little bit.”

Reconnecting with Willis has been a bonus of this whole process for Cameron, who plans on wearing the cleats throughout Players’ Weekend.

Then, he wants to display them in a case at his house or potentially donate them to Central.

“It means everything,” Cameron said. “To have the pieces of the jersey is really cool. It’s so cool to have that tribute to Central and let everyone there know that I’m thinking about them. That’s where I came from. And I’ll never forget that.”