WATERTOWN, S.D. - Some people just know what they want. Sister Janice Iverson, OSB, is one of them.

Since childhood, Iverson has been certain of two things: She wanted to be a nun and she loved sports. Fortunately, she has been blessed with the abilities and opportunities necessary to build a life of serving others while doing things she truly enjoys.

The discovery of her athletic ability occurred when Iverson was a very small girl. Her older brother, George, came down with pneumonia. During his lengthy recuperation, he became an avid basketball fan. He would listen to games on the radio and yearned to be on the court himself. Once he reached a point in his recovery where he would benefit from exercise, Iverson and her brother began to play basketball and other sports in an effort to strengthen his weakened lungs.

"He was basically rehabbing from about fifth grade on," she recalls, adding that George also suffered from asthma as a child.

Young Janice turned out to be a formidable opponent for her brother, and it became evident her athletic ability was great.

"I think we just had a natural ability," she says of her seven brothers and two sisters, all of whom enjoyed basketball and other sports.

Iverson's brothers played school sports, and several were quite successful, including George. But schools did not have girls' sports programs then, so Iverson participated in games outside of school.

It was during those childhood playground games Iverson realized sports could be a powerful thing.

In Brookings during the 1950s, there was a definite socio-economic distinction between the north and south sides of town. But when the kids from both sides of town gathered on the basketball court, those distinctions no longer mattered.

"It didn't matter who or what they were. We all just got together and played," Iverson recalls.

"The talent, the gift a person has - if recognized - gives the person a chance."

Iverson's inclination toward a religious vocation began before she was even in school. She remembers attending her older siblings' First Communion and seeing several nuns there. Curious, she asked her oldest brother who those women were. His reply: "They do God's work."

That was all Iverson needed to hear - her mind was made up. "I knew God was the top you could be," Iverson says, adding she pursued that goal throughout her education. She joined the Benedictine sisters at Mother of God Monastery as a young woman.

Sister Ramona Fallon, prioress of the monastery, explains that Benedictine sisters don't enter certain areas of ministry like other orders who might specialize in only nursing or education, for example.

"We try to respond to what the needs are," Fallon says, pointing out that Iverson did exactly that when she first became a classroom instructor and later volunteered to become a PE teacher.

Years ago, the Catholic school where Iverson taught needed a physical education teacher to maintain its accreditation, so she began taking classes to meet that requirement.

It was a slam dunk: Not only was Iverson able to fulfill a specific need in the community she served, she was able to intertwine her interests - serving God and sports - by teaching PE and coaching several sports, including basketball and soccer.

She also furthered her education, earning a master's degree in health, physical education, recreation and dance.

Later, she took her interest in health and fitness a step further and obtained a degree from Virginia Tech in cardiac rehabilitation, a field in which she became a leading educator, developing procedures and policies for several outpatient programs in Idaho and the Midwest.

Now, after more than 45 years as a Benedictine sister, Iverson says she has slowed down some, but by most people's standards it hasn't been much: She exercises daily ("… six miles, one hour or 1,000 calories - whichever comes first), works full-time and volunteers at Holy Rosary.