Gull Lakes Builds on Variety of Experiences
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
April 25, 2016
RICHLAND — Military training is not the usual workout for the Richland Gull Lake soccer team.
But that was just one of the girls’ team-building exercises this month to prepare for their run at a fourth consecutive MHSAA Division 2 title.
The players, along with the Portage Northern soccer team, traveled to Fort Custer in Battle Creek where they were put through a rigorous 3½-hour Leadership Reaction Course led by soldiers from the Michigan Army National Guard.
“The LRC challenged the mental and physical abilities of the players,” Gull Lake coach Jeff Corstange said. “The situations tested the players’ problem-solving abilities and leadership skills.
“It was great to see how each team worked together to complete each task as a team.”
Team bonding exercises are a way of making the players a family. That’s one of the keys to the team’s success, said Corstange, now in his fifth season.
If the Blue Devils win a fourth straight title, the seniors will graduate without a season-ending loss. But they insist that’s not their focus.
“It’s not what I need,” said Blue Devils senior goalkeeper Regan Troff, who has committed to play collegiate soccer at Davenport University in Grand Rapids. “We have goals, just like every team.
“Winning a fourth straight title would be awesome … but it’s not something I need to happen to have fun my senior year.”
Strength of community
This was the second year at Fort Custer for the Gull Lake players.
“The coaches divided us into groups with girls we usually aren’t with,” Troff said. “We all worked well together so there wasn’t any fighting.”
On the first of two courses, the girls worked in groups of six or seven, rotating through five stations in a timed exercise, Corstange said.
At each station, they had to move a 50-gallon drum or 40-pound box, along with other equipment such as ropes or boards, over various obstacle courses.
“The second was a land obstacle course which tested individual strength and speed,” he added. “Each athlete completed two courses which ranged from hurdles, rope swings, climbing to balance and speed.”
Gull Lake will give back to the military when the Blue Devils face Portage Northern in Richland on May 9 for a Military Appreciation Night. The 110th Attack Wing Honor Guard will present the colors at halftime, and active and veteran military personnel including those representing American Legion posts, the Michigan Army National Guard, Air Force, Blue Star and Gold Star mothers will be honored.
“We will serve dinner during the varsity game to the military and their families,” Corstange said. “Each team will wear special jerseys along with a military name on the jersey to honor the military.”
But that will be just one way Gull Lake gets involved with the community this spring.
A week ago, the players hosted several Special Olympians for practice and drills. On Friday, prior to Gull Lake’s game with Kalamazoo Central, the Special Olympians warmed up with the team and each player walked out with one of the Blue Devils with her name announced over the public address system.
At halftime, the Special Olympians played the Blue Devils’ junior varsity team.
Gull Lake’s varsity defeated Kalamazoo Central, 8-0, and takes a 5-1 record into this week’s action. The only loss so far was 3-1 to DeWitt, ranked second in Division 2. Gull Lake is ranked fifth.
Many ways to win
Gull Lake’s girls won each of their MHSAA championships in a different way.
Taking a 25-1-1 record into the Division 2 Final last year, the Blue Devils faced Fenton – with regulation ending 0-0. Gull Lake finally won 1-0 on penalty kicks.
Choosing which girls to take penalty kicks does not come by happenstance.
“We do a drill toward the end of practice,” Corstange said. “The girls come up to me and tell me and the assistant coaches where (into the net) they’re going to shoot their PKs.
“One of the reasons we do that is to put pressure on them because if they miss, the entire team has to run. If they tell us where they’re going to place their PK and do put it there most of the time, then we know who are our good PK shooters.”
Troff said last year’s title was most stressful, especially with PKs deciding the game
However, “They are all special,” she said. “I remember every single one.
“I can tell you when people scored, when there was a breakaway, how many corner kicks. I have it all written down. I have the videos.”
For the team’s first MHSAA title, the Blue Devils defeated Bloomfield Hills Marian, 1-0, in two overtimes.
Corstange knew the players would have targets on their backs in 2014, and once again scheduled a tough nonconference schedule.
“We took it game by game in the regular season, setting out to win the (Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference) first before thinking of the postseason,” he said.
Gull Lake faced Marian again in the 2014 Final, winning 2-1 in regulation.
Emma Hanna, a freshman on this year’s squad, said the younger players feel some pressure to keep the winning trend alive.
“I do feel a little pressure. But I do feel like if we do win it, it will be good. But if we don’t win it, it will still be a good time,” she said.
“I’m having a lot of fun. I’m glad for the experience and what happens, happens.”
Hanna, who plays midfield, said the older players help out a lot.
“The older girls give you a lot of advice,” she said. “I like (practicing against senior) Maddie Fouts, and that helps me a lot.
“They talk to you and let you know what you need to do better. You look up to them because they’ve been doing this for four years, and it helps you a lot prepare for the other teams.”
Like previous champs, this year’s team has its share of interesting back stories.
Senior Lauren Nusbaum broke her foot her sophomore year and was team manager. Her junior season, “I sat,” she said. “It was very nerve-wracking (watching the MHSAA Final) but I knew we were in control.
“When you’re not playing you can see everything, the little mistakes that are made, and you can think, ‘Oh I would have done this or I would have done that.’ I really trusted those girls who were playing.”
And the last line of defense, Troff, was a forward until high school.
“I wanted to try something new,” she said. “I was athletic enough. I didn’t have the technical skills per se, but because I was so athletic I seem to fit pretty well into it.
“I think playing forward helps me now because I know where they’re going to shoot. I know what I would do so I judge what other people will do.”
After losing eight seniors to graduation, this year’s varsity again features eight seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and six freshmen.
Other seniors are Chloe Lipovsky, Lucy Sandell, Anya Jennette, Kenzie Harney and Braedan Snow.
Fouts, Sandell and Troff are team captains. Juniors are Grace Clancy, Elise Blakely, Grace Lehman and Autumn Hoyt. Sophomores are Nicole Miller, Taylor Wesley and Kelsey Jacobs; and other freshmen are Mackenzie Wank, Sophie Tilbury, Avery Cook, Lindsey Buckhout and Maddie Rossen.
“The talent here at Gull Lake, we’ve been gifted with athletes and with (local clubs) Midwest United and Kingdom in the area, for them establishing the girls to where, when they come into the high school season, they are excited about playing,” Corstange said. “We continue to grow soccer players.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Gull Lake's Lucy Sandell (9) works for control of the ball. (Middle) Jeff Corstange and Regan Troff, Lauren Nusbaum and Emma Hanna. (Below) Nusbaum prepares to move the ball upfield for the Blue Devils. (Action photos by Cindy Corstange, The Open Shutter.)
MHSA(Q&)A: Soccer Coaches President Zach Jonker
September 21, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Zach Jonker has had his hands – or, perhaps, feet – on just about every facet of soccer in this state over the last 20 years.
He played on a Class B Semifinalist at Petoskey before graduating in 1995, then earned four letters and served as a captain at Hope College. He came back home to teach social studies and became coach of both boys and girls varsities that are regularly among the northern Lower Peninsula's elite, but also are highly-regarded statewide. And this fall, he began the first of a two-year term as president of the Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association.
So he can speak first-hand on the benefits of playing high school soccer in Michigan, which is good news to get out perhaps now more than ever. Michigan high school soccer is facing a predicament unlike any it has tackled before – the creation by U.S. Soccer of its Development Academy, a set of travel teams all over the country that train nearly year-round and are meant to eventually fuel the men's national team. That opportunity has drawn a number of top Michigan players out of high school soccer.
Jonker and his coaching brethren are monitoring that situation closely, while continuing to lead their teams into the second half of this fall boys season. His Northmen are 6-7-1 overall this fall, but have faced three of the top-five ranked teams in Division 1 and another from Division 2.
Despite your location near the tip of the Lower Peninsula, you still manage to schedule strong competition. How do you make it work?
We’re in a really nice spot. Traverse City hosts a tournament during the regular season with Traverse City Central, Traverse City West and Petoskey, and then they invite three schools from downstate that have generally been (Warren) DeLaSalle, Clarkston and Ann Arbor Skyline. The following weekend, we host a similar format with Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and Bloomfield Hills Lahser. We get six really good games at the start of the season with two tournaments. It’s early in the season and teams love coming up, making a weekend out of it, hitting the beach and doing some bonding. And the fields at Traverse City and Petoskey are both beautiful, which helps teams commit, plus the three of us are very competitive.
We’re coming down next weekend to play East Lansing, and we always schedule a couple of those. Last year, Mason came up here. It’s definitely a commitment in terms of travel during the course of the year, but from a Petoskey standpoint, I don’t care about our nonleague record. We’re using those games to get better for our league and better for the (MHSAA) tournament. The only tough thing is putting that in perspective for the kids.
What is something happening in high school soccer that the coaches association is proudest about right now?
We’re always looking at it from the other side, what we want to make better. But one of our main goals as an association is to properly recognize players. And I think the process we have in place for giving all-district, all-regional and all-state recognition and ultimately the selection of the Dream Team, I think that’s a very good model that enables us as an association to truly recognize players who put the work in and had a successful season. We also redesigned our web site this past season, and we’ve done a lot of the all-state process online, which a lot of coaches really liked because it cut down travel time for meetings.
Is anything new on the horizon?
A lot of coaches are really interested in seeing what the long-term impact of the (U.S.) Academy ruling is. Everyone’s initial take is we’re seeing increased parity round the state as the result of 120 kids electing not to play high school soccer this year. Obviously, all of those players are good players playing at a high level, and people are interested in seeing at the end of the season if kids are going to have missed playing in front of their communities, and if kids are going to migrate back to high school soccer. There’s talk of U.S. Soccer adding a U-14 academy. They’re trying to expand.
What has been the reaction so far to the U.S. Academy?
For certain players, the academy makes sense. They’re in a professional training environment 10 months out of the year. But those guys not on the professional track would be equally served by playing high school soccer and playing club like we always have. (U.S. Soccer) is doing a lot of this to benefit the top one percent of players. It’s the main frustration from the coaches.
Everyone kind of understands why U.S. Soccer is headed down that path, and it impacted each (high school) team differently. Some programs lost upwards of 8-10 kids as a result. Some didn’t lose any.
In terms of geographic parity, we’re already seeing that. Two years ago, west side teams won all four championships. Last year, Detroit teams won all four. Now we’re going to see more parity within districts, within conferences. And I think we’ll see scores closer than in the past.
What role should high school soccer play compared to club, the academy, etc.?
I equate it as playing for your national team. When you put your school colors on, go out with your friends that you’ve played with since kindergarten, it’s really special. They can’t even begin to match the rivalries we have with high school soccer, the amount of passion that exists within our game and the number of fans that show up at these games. At an academy game, you might have a handful of parents on the sideline, that’s it, and a few college coaches watching. But you can’t match the high school experience and the passion that exists. Kids are going to miss that, and we’ll get kids back because of that.
Do your players see an MHSAA championship differently because so many elite players aren’t participating in high school?
It doesn’t even register with these guys. The (MHSAA) championships are going to be awarded in November, and for whoever wins this year, it will be just as meaningful for these guys as the guys who won last year.
Does soccer get a bump from U.S. national team success like swimming or gymnastics might during Olympic years?
Any time it’s a World Cup year, men’s or women’s, the players get really excited about the experience. It gets them enthused to get out and train. I don’t think kids watch enough soccer in this country, and that’s one of the big issues we have. Ultimately, what’s holding us back at the national team level is kids are not growing up in a culture of soccer on television like in other countries against which we compete. In a World Cup year, kids get excited, and they watch more soccer, and the play is better on the field.
How much has high school soccer changed since you played?
There are just so many more layers of sophistication, tactically. We had good athletes playing at that point, and we have good athletes playing now. But as a country, we’ve evolved from a coaching standpoint. The kids are getting better technical training at a younger age, and are much better tactically. There are many more teams now emphasizing more possession-based (play). What else has helped the evolution is getting off playing on football fields. During the (19)80s and 90s, a lot of games were played on them, and it made it hard to possess the ball when the turf was chewed up. Soccer-specific fields have helped the game evolve.
What will Michigan high school soccer look like five years from now?
I like the path we’re headed down. The number one thing going forward is seeing what happens with the evolution of the academy program – do kids come back, or does the academy program grow? Regardless, the kids playing high school soccer are going to have a great experience, and there are a lot of really good coaches in high school soccer, a lot of really great referees and administrators. That makes the game special. I see us continuing to have the best going forward.
PHOTO: Petoskey senior Noah Honaker goes high while surrounded by defenders to head a ball during a game this season. (Photo courtesy of Dean Viles.)