At 69 years old, Darla Tamulitis Kelly is finally crossing the one item left on her long sports photography bucket list — shooting the FIFA World Cup 2026™. And it is happening right in her hometown of Houston, Texas.

For nearly five decades, Kelly has built a career telling sports stories through her camera. She has covered the Olympic Games, NCAA championship tournaments, and countless college competitions across the United States. Together with her husband Robert, she also runs their own sports media outlet — he handles the writing, she handles the pictures — a partnership that has lasted more than 30 years.

Beyond photography, Kelly has dedicated 47 years to teaching and coaching at a high school in Pasadena, Texas. She plans to step away from the classroom at the end of the next school year, though she bristles at the word