English Valleys teacher opens big games in big arenas

      Jane Luetje and her husband, Rod, of North English pose for a photo at the American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers earlier this year. Luetje sang the National Anthem to more than 25,000 baseball fans to start the game. She also sang the National Anthem at the Minnesota Twins game last year.

​By J.O. Parker
 
         Jane Luetje of North English loves to sing, especially the National Anthem.
      Her singing talents have led to her singing at Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers baseball games.
      She’s sang the National Anthem at University of Iowa basketball, wrestling, volleyball, baseball and softball games and at a Drake University basketball game.
     The Iowa Heartlanders hockey games, the College World Series in Omaha, Omaha Stormchasers games, the Iowa Cubs are also on her long-list of arenas, ballparks and venues she’s opened games with the National Anthem.
         “I have also sang at rodeos, the Awards for Distinguished Veterans at the University of Iowa, and minor league soccer games,” she said. “And finally, one of my favorites is the Iowa State Fair.”
         And most recently on July 11, Luetje sang the National Anthem at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, home of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever.
         The team that Iowa’s Caitlin Clark calls home.
       “I probably have been singing since I was five years old,” said Luetje, who teaches English at English Valleys High School. “It started in elementary and I had a solo in an elementary concert and I just went from there. I would sing in church, at Bill Riley Talent Search Shows growing up where I made it to the state fair a couple times. I was in the choir in high school and in college and just sang whenever I could.”
         Singing the National Anthem in big arenas didn’t happen overnight.
         For Luetje, it started at home at English Valleys ballgames many years ago and just grew from there.
        About five years ago, she started singing at Iowa Hawkeye sporting events.
       Her first big ball game was at the Minnesota Twins baseball game last summer and this summer she sang the National Anthem at a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game.
       Both games had an attendance of 25,000 fans. And she said A-Rod was at the Twins game when she sang.
       And the icing on the cake was singing at the Indiana Fever game.
       At the Fever game, Luetje was sporting her newly purchased electric anthem shoes, as she calls them. She found them on Amazon.
      “It was such a memorable moment,” she said of singing the National Anthem in her debut shoes at the Fever game. 
     “I call them my electric anthem shoes,” she said. “I had a lot of great compliments on them.”
     After the game, Luetje said she really wanted to find Caitlin and see if she would trade shoes. 
   “My electric anthem shoes for her basketball shoes,” Luetje said with a smile. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”
       When asked about her experience singing at the Fever game, Luetje said the adjectives she uses describe her experience would be euphoric and electrifying.
       “The atmosphere downtown is unbelievable,” she said. “People are so kind, friendly, and talkative…. So many Caitlin shirts and Iowa shirts and Fever shirts. Toddlers through grandparents sporting fever jerseys, businesses are buzzing. It was incredible downtown.” 
      “Before you even get into the arena, there are activities going on for families from face painting to sign creation to photo ops to shooting some hoops on the basketball court outside,” she said. 
       "Once you walk in, it’s all Fever based,” she added. “If you haven’t got the fever before you get there, you will definitely have it when you get inside!”
          Luetje said her husband, Rob, was with her when she was taken down through a tunnel to a where she had her own dressing room and then taken to the floor of the arena.
       “There we watched the warm-ups of both teams,” she said. “Everyone was so professional and so kind. Everyone working has a purpose and it went like clockwork.”
      Luetje said the music was loud, the fans were engaged and the atmosphere was electrifying.
         “I sang from the middle of the floor with more than 17,000 fans around me,” Luetje said. “It was exhilarating to see the entire Fever team in front of me as I sang the anthem. However, the Atlanta Dream walked off the floor before I sang the anthem and returned shortly after I was finished. That’s OK because we kicked their butts…”
           The Fever won, 99 - 82.
           When asked how she gets noticed, Luetje said she sends out audition tapes or videos of her singing the National Anthem to venues all over and “I look for them year-round.”
          “Sometimes it’s word-of-mouth, sometimes people have seen me on the news before as Scott Saville with KCRG did two stories on me,” she said. “I love singing and will sing almost anywhere.”
           When asked how she was able to sing at the Fever game, Luetje said she sent the team an email last year and it was received very well.
        “I was on the list for cancellations but never got an opportunity,” said Luetje. “I told them (the Fever organization) that I needed at least 24 to 48 hour’s notice and that’s kind of difficult.”
        Luetje said this year she got in contact with the person she talked to last year, and  things came to fruition from there.
          “On April 25,  I found out the date I would sing,” she said. “That same day I found out the date to sing for the Brewers - ironically on that date, it was six months from the day my father passed. I think he had a little something to do with it. They came in within an hour of each other.”
          When asked if she has any pre-game rituals before singing in front of big crowd, Luetje said she always takes her husband with her because he’s her biggest supporter. 
        “I take a deep breath, I find the right note, I say “come on Dad. Let’s do this,” said Luetje. “They announce me, and I sing.”
       “And a new ritual that I will start doing is wearing my electric anthem shoes every time I sing if it’s appropriate, I love them,” added Luetje.
      As for the future, Luetje said while in Indianapolis, she and Rob visited the Indianapolis Speedway.
       “I would really like to sing  there and at Ground Zero in New York City,” she said. “I would love to sing at a NASCAR race and I would love to sing at the Big Ten basketball tournament. I would also like to sing at a Chicago Cubs and a St. Louis Cardinals game.”
       Luetje, who will retire from teaching at the end of the 2025 – 26 school year, said she is living proof that dreams can come true at any age.
       “Keep pushing forward to make them happen,” she said. “I didn’t start this journey until a few years ago and so many opportunities have been given to me. If you love something do it… I love to sing and what better way than to sing and honor our country at the same time. My husband and I are big sports fans and it is our time to spend with each other and make memories. I’ve taken my children to events and shared stories with my family. I will continue to do this as long as I can.”

​       Jane Luetje is shown by the National Anthem dressing room before singing the National Anthem at the Indiana Fever game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on July 11. The Fever won the game, 99-82, over the Atlanta Dream. Luetje, who lives in North English and has been singing all her life, started singing the National Anthem at ball games and sporting events about five years ago. She has sang at Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers baseball games, Iowa Hawkeye sporting events, the College World Series in Omaha and at the Iowa State Fair.

​       Jane Luetje of North English sports her new electric anthem shoes she wore for the first time at the Indiana Fever game on July 11. She plans to continue wearing them when singing the National Anthem at future games.

​       Jane Luetje of North English is shown with Iowa women’s basketball players, from left, Monica Czinano, Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin. Martin currently plays basketball for the Golden State Valkyries. 

       Jan Luetje and her husband, Rob, are shown at one of the many sporting events she has sang the National Anthem at in recent years.