Looking for a needed diversion, Hope Athletics style? Check out this new Word Search created by Courtney Kust, assistant women’s basketball coach. Be sure to share the fun with your friends on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, tag @HopeAthletics and use #KeepingHope!
Can you find them all?
Looking for fun activities to do with your family? Need a stress reliever and something to do during a study break? Look no further! Hope Athletics has created a series of Coloring Challenges to stay STRONG and show your TRUE Hope spirit! Download and print Dutch the Mascot, color him and re-share on your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter pages! Make sure to tag @HopeAthletics and use #KeepingHope!
Competitive divers are notorious for launching their bodies into the air with reckless abandon, trusting that hours of practice and muscle memory will result in flawless timing, placement, and form, and ease them into the pool with the slightest hint of a splash. For Hope College sophomore Kamaron Wilcox of Grand Rapids (Forest Hills Central), hurling his body off a bouncy composite springboard to contort into twists and backflips evokes no fear because he places his trust not just in his own abilities but rather in something much bigger: his faith.
Just last weekend, Wilcox claimed two MIAA titles; first taking the 1-meter board event with 447.60 points and achieving an NCAA regional cut, and then winning the 3-meter board scoring 474.65 points. He also walked away from the meet with Hope’s first-ever MIAA Most Valuable Diver award. What makes his accomplishments all the more impressive is that Wilcox stepped foot on a competitive diving board for the first time last year.
How did he go from diving newbie to diving champion in just a year? It’s an ascent as incredible as it is improbable, thanks to Health Dynamics, hard work and providence.
One day during the fall of 2018, Wilcox decided to cool off in the Dow Center pool after his Health Dynamics workout and have a little fun, too. Knowing that doing tricks off the boards wasn’t allowed for students who weren’t on the diving team, Wilcox let the lifeguard know he was a gymnast and had been flipping and training on the trampoline most of his life.
How did he go from diving newbie to diving champion in just a year? It’s an ascent as incredible as it is improbable, thanks to Health Dynamics, hard work and providence.
When he noticed head swimming and diving coach Jake Taber standing on deck, he says, “I didn’t know what he would say because he was a coach and I didn’t know if he’d be stricter on the rules. I was doing some double backflips off the one meter and I saw Taber looking at me after I did one of those. I thought to myself, ‘Oh no, he’s going to tell me to stop so I should probably do something easier that requires more control.’ I decided to do a backflip with a twist. It’s all so funny now because Taber walked right over to me and rather than yelling, he said ‘I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but who are you?’ I told him my name and we started talking and he asked if I would ever consider joining the diving team… I said sure!”
Now holding two MIAA titles and a major league award, Wilcox believes his success did not happen by chance. In fact, he feels as though nothing in his life has happened by chance, especially his decision to come to Hope. Considering Hope College was the last school on his mind when applying to larger universities with larger physics programs, Wilcox knows that God was behind it all.
But he took a giant leap of faith and came to Hope because he felt immediately welcomed by a strong faith-based community. He is currently studying physics and mathematics while doing research for Dr. Jennifer Hampton, professor of physics, and considers his lab group his second family. “It’s like Professor Hampton is mom and all of the other people in the lab are each other’s siblings,” describes Wilcox, who is an MIAA Academic Honor Roll honoree (meaning he has a cumulative GPA os higher than 3.5). After the news of Wilcox’s accomplishments at the MIAA Championships broke last weekend, his physics department family were the first to retweet his success.
Though Wilcox has only been a member of the team for two years, diving coach Rebecca Garza shares that he has already stepped up and taken on a leadership role on the team. And just like he has with the physics department, Kamaron treats his teammates like family. “I think he brings his outside (perspective) onto the pool deck, so it helps the team feel more like a family,” Garza says. “He checks in with people and he asks how he can pray for you. He’s a well-rounded athlete and I never have to worry about his relationship with the team.”
With just two years’ experience, Wilcox has catapulted himself to the top. Yet he doesn’t take his leap, entry and landing at Hope lightly.
“I attribute this to God,” he says. “Bringing me to Hope and then joining the diving team was part of His plan for me.”
When asked how he feels about being a two-time league champion, Wilcox answers graciously. “I think the most profound thing that I felt after (receiving the award) was simply just feeling the same. I still felt human. I was praying a lot for God to just humble me and not let it go to my head. And he did exactly that. He was showing me exactly where I had failed in my life and showing me how much I needed to rely on Him and how little of that was me. I just happened to be the one on the boards at that time.”
With the fundamentals laid during his years as a gymnast and the foundation of his faith, the potential for Kam Wilcox’s success this weekend at regionals, and next two years at Hope, appears to be boundless.
In any sport, mental strength is just as important as physical prowess. For swimmers, this is especially true considering a substantial amount of time is spent underwater, in individual lanes, allowing for hours of solitary thought to focus on the task at hand. For Hope College senior Paula Nolte of Elmhurst, Illinois (York Community HS), time spent in deep thought has never been an issue: in fact, she thrives on it.
MIAA Swimming and Diving Championship Website
As a three-time defending MIAA champion in the 200-yard breaststroke, an esteemed student-researcher, a soon-to-be published author, and an impending graduate with a biology major and chemistry minor, Nolte has shown that it’s possible to be extremely successful in both academics and athletics. Just after her sophomore year, during the summer of 2018, she completed an internship through the National Science Foundation working alongside Dr. Frank Smith at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. The project studied gut gene expression during embryonic development in tardigrades (a microscopic organism that’s closely related to arthropods, or insects) as part of Smith’s ongoing research in the evolutionary development field.
When her research with Dr. Frank Smith came to a close, Nolte immediately took on a new challenge, participating in biology research at Hope throughout her junior year into the summer of 2019. She worked in the lab of Dr. Phillip Rivera, associate professor of biology, investigating ways in which longer space flight could potentially impact astronauts by simulating space radiation using the Pelletron accelerator in the physics lab. The project studied how radiation exposure would impact cognition and behavior in mice. Now due to her research in both Dr. Smith’s and Dr. Rivera’s labs, manuscripts are in the works, making Nolte an undergraduate published author.
Although highly involved and successful student-athlete, it has not been easy for Nolte. Her sophomore and junior years were very difficult, leading her to consider ending her swimming career. With multiple science classes, research, her responsibilities as a teaching assistant (TA), and the rigors of collegiate swimming, the pace of life became overwhelming. Coincidentally, her exercise-induced asthma, diagnosed when she was a child, reappeared. Nolte took two summers off from training to reset and reconsider her life path.
What helped her to find her way? In the summer of 2019, prior to her senior year, she chose to participate in one of Hope’s SEED (Sport Evangelism to Equip Disciples) trips to the Dominican Republic. Hope partners with Sawyer Products, a company that specializes in outdoor protection supplies (water filtration being one of them) to make SEED possible. With funds provided by Sawyer, groups of student-athletes travel to five global locations to spread God’s word through service and play. The trip to the DR changed Nolte’s personal and career trajectory. “There is a new part of me that I definitely did not think I would be discovering at this point in my life,” she says. “This has been a strange year, but a good one.”
No longer enthralled with lab work, Nolte now has a new interest in the realm of public health. This change in career path means long research hours are no longer required and has decreased her workload significantly. With a lighter schedule, Nolte has been able to refocus on one of the most important things in her life: swimming.
Coach Jake Taber says, “Paula is just incredibly bright and highly capable, and her involvement in the things that she’s done in the research is inspiring. But when you get to know her as an athlete, she’s still so analytical. She always wants to know what her stroke looks like; she talks about how it feels, how it’s setting up, where her timing is, if that’s where it should be. I feel like she is somebody that understands the sport better than most.”
Understanding the sport on a deeper level has helped to develop her stroke and make her an even greater threat in the pool. In this MIAA Championship week, Nolte is set to defend her title as a three-time champ in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Regarding the future, Nolte hopes “to be working as an epidemiologist at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and monitoring infectious disease both abroad and in the U.S., or working as a public health officer, helping countries who experienced natural disasters and the health issues that go along with those.”
With her sharp intellect and incredible work ethic, the doors of opportunity for Nolte appear wide open. In the over 30 million yards that Nolte has estimated she has swam in her lifetime, she has silently allowed her mind to explore and analyze the possibilities that lie ahead.
Most athletes train to compete against other athletes. For Hope College senior Daniel Clyde of Ann Arbor, Michigan (Huron HS), who has had collapsed lungs and a subsequent surgery, a concussion, a dislocated elbow and fractured bone, diagnosis of vasovagal syncope and narcolepsy, as well as ongoing back pains, his fiercest opponent has been his own body.
The litany of injury and surgical setbacks he has had to face are as fierce as his determination to overcome them. Despite the adversity, Clyde was still able to set three records leading up to his senior year. He currently holds the MIAA record in the 400-yard individual medley (3:57.14) and also set school records in the 200 IM (1:50.87) and 400 IM (3:57.14).
MIAA Swimming and Diving Championship Website
Shortly after making the decision to swim competitively for Hope while pursuing a degree in biology, Clyde sustained the fourth concussion of his young life while body surfing in Lake Michigan. While viewing his CT scan, the doctors discovered that part of his C-5 vertebrae was missing. Clyde was immediately confined to a neck brace for four weeks. On top of that, just four weeks later, he experienced his first collapsed lung; and more were to follow.. Obviously, it was not the ideal way to start his collegiate swimming career.
His sophomore year Clyde got through the season free of major injury. But then during his junior year at Hope, after his fourth collapsed lung, he went to see a surgeon in Ann Arbor who determined that he couldn’t afford any more lung failures; he scheduled surgery that week when staples were inserted to ensure his lungs would stay in place. Although the surgery went smoothly, his body sustained a severe allergic reaction to the skin prep that had been applied. The reaction took over the entire left side of his torso, front and back, causing inflammation accompanied by a fluid-filled rash preventing his body from scabbing for three weeks. Scar tissue build up also prevented him from lifting his arm, making swimming very difficult, especially since Clyde swims the individual medley, an event containing every stroke.
The summer before his senior year, Clyde made a complete recovery and came back to Hope in the best shape of his life, he says. But — you guessed it — not two weeks in, he sustained another injury, a dislocated elbow and a fractured bone caused by a playful wrestling match with one of his fellow teammates. Clyde recalls making the long trek to Coach Taber’s office “and, before opening my mouth, Coach asked, ‘How long are you out?’” he recalls. It took six weeks for Clyde to fully recover. Though he still deals with lower back pain and elbow issues,, this was the last of his injuries. He hopes…and prays. The MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships start on Wednesday and Clyde plans on defending his titles as league champ in the 200 butterfly and the 400 IM.
Although his collegiate swimming career has been wrought with frustration, his difficulties have also ignited a fire and a drive to overcome them. When asked how he has dealt with the adversity, Clyde states, “It’s given me an edge. It’s like you’re never going to feel like ‘Oh, I’m on top of the world and I can’t be beaten’ when your own body is beating you. Every time I come back, it gives me more motivation, like I have something to prove. Not to anybody else but for myself, because I’m not going to let myself get beaten by whatever goes wrong along the way.”
Coach Jake Taber agrees: “With Dan, it’s not, how do I motivate him to go out and work hard. It’s almost, how do I protect him from himself at times. Dan’s biggest opponent and critic is himself, yet even in his darkest hours, he leads the team selflessly. But, you know, I think Dan has done a nice job of recognizing when he’s had limitations.”
Even though Clyde has spent a significant amount of time out of the pool unable to train along his teammates, his role as captain and leader of the team has not diminished. Through it all, he has committed to be on deck at practices, even when he cannot swim or train, and refuses to miss a meet whether he is able to compete, or not. He explains that he’s always made it a goal of his to be more important to the team outside of the water than in the water; to keep a positive atmosphere going.
Clyde states that he is there for his team because, “I know all too well how quickly a sport can be taken from you and if I put all of my own worth into how much I’m doing athletically for myself instead of what am I doing for the rest of the team, it would be a lot harder every time I got injured.”
With the MIAA Championships this week, Clyde feels his healthiest in a long time. Since he joined the team freshman year, his biggest goal in the pool has been to qualify a relay team to nationals. That may happen. But when all is said and done at Hope outside of the pool, Clyde plans on taking a gap year following graduation with plans of pursuing a PhD in ecology or parasitology.
Dear Friends and Family of Hope College Athletics,
At our opening athletics coach/staff meeting this fall, new President Matthew A. Scogin ’02 spoke these words from Isaiah over our entire department:
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:19
Those words, and President Scogin’s subsequent message to us, sparked an excitement for a number of new things. A new athletic year. A new academic year. A new presidency. A new era. And, now this new publication. With this first edition of Orange and Blue Illustrated, we hope you too appreciate the start of the latest way we get to tell the many new and exciting stories that happen every day in Hope College Athletics.
As an athletic department, we hold strong to our mission of academic success, competitive excellence and transformational experiences for every one of our 541 student-athletes. We expect them to excel in the classroom and graduate. We expect our teams to do their very best to win games, competitions and championships. We expect to transform the lives of our student-athletes and staff because of what we do here day in and day out. I am so honored to be a part of the team that values these expectations. This is an amazing place!
In the following pages, you will witness for yourself the transformation that goes on each and every day at Hope and in Hope Athletics. Two student-athletes who are able to compete on multiple teams because of our commitment to the NCAA Division III philosophy. An entire team that serves at the West Michigan Miracle League, where members strive to give to others but in reality, have their lives profoundly impacted instead. Student-athletes who discover, dedicate and develop excellence in their academic pursuit of nursing. New head coaches who seek to do more than win, they plan to make a difference in their student-athletes’ lives. You’ll read how student-athletes engage in life-altering international sport ministry trips through our SEED program and how internships resulted. And, we catch up with some outstanding athlete-alumni who have put their Hope diplomas to great use and are changing the world one life at a time.
We hope that you are inspired by the things that God is doing here at Hope. Enjoy our first issue of Orange and Blue. We are honored to do the work we do as we seek to transform lives for Jesus Christ through athletics. Thank you for being a part of our team!
Be Strong. Be True.
Go Hope!
Tim Schoonveld ’96
Athletic Director
Seniors Amanda Bandrowski (right) and Claire Hallock (left) have been a formidable force for the Hope women’s tennis team since they set foot in the Etheridge Tennis Complex as freshmen. Each plays at one of the top-two singles spots and together they play No. 1 doubles. Their Hope résumés speak volumes of athletic and academic achievement: Bandrowski was the MIAA MVP in 2018, Hallock earned that honor in 2019; both are two-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll honorees and three-time MIAA league champs; and, both spent their summer of 2019 working on their futures — Bandrowski interned at the USTA National Center in Orlando, Florida, while Hallock conducted research at Hope on solar-cell technology. When the 2020 season starts for the Flying Dutch tennis team in February, the dynamic duo will look to simultaneously achieve one more thing: They’ll chase the career-best singles record for Hope women’s tennis, currently owned by Audrey Coates ’97 Akland (87-17). At the time of Orange and Blue Illustrated’s publication, Bandrowski’s singles record was 81-13; Hallock’s was 76-12.
Basketball student-athlete Preston Granger was down but not out in a game at Hope’s DeVos Fieldhouse last season. The junior center’s hustle landed him temporarily on the sideline where he received a little help from his friends in the front row, as well as from thousands of cheering Hope fans throughout the arena. That kind of support is a DeVos Fieldhouse norm for Granger and his teammates — and for the Hope College women’s basketball team, too. Since 1998-99, both the Flying Dutchmen and Flying Dutch have led NCAA Division III in average home basketball attendance. The 11-consecutive-seasons feat makes playing at home a verifiable pick-me-up.
In the individual medley, junior Emma Schaefer has to be able do it all — butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle — and fast. Which she
does. Schaefer is the defending MIAA champion in both the 200- and 400-yard individual medley and the school record holder in the former. Yet, she is not only versatile in the pool. An MIAA Academic Honor Roll and dean’s list student-athlete from DeWitt, Michigan, who majors in exercise science and plans to attend medical school, Schaefer spent much of the summer of 2019 abroad, first studying in Austria and then serving on a Hope SEED mission trip in Zambia.
As a face-off specialist, Cole Scheffler got every game started for the 2019 Hope men’s lacrosse team. It’s a job that can be easily overlooked, but face-off specialists play a major role in getting the ball rolling, passing, shooting and scoring. Scheffler, from Rockford, Michigan, won 138-of-207 face-offs overall (66%) while going 58-for-79 (73%) in the league, so he was named to the 2019 All-MIAA First Team as a freshman for good reason. Those starts were as instrumental as goals, assists and defense in the 2019 Flying Dutchmen’s overall record (14-4), second MIAA regular-season championship, and first-ever MIAA tournament title as well as NCAA playoff berth.
“When one wins, we all win,” Athletic Director Tim Schoonveld ’96 likes to say about Hope’s overall team culture. Since that’s the case, there were a whole lot of collective Hope victories this past fall.
Two Hope College teams won Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles, while no team finished below third place in the league during the fall of 2019. On top of that, a total of four Hope squads qualified for NCAA Division III Championships, and Hope hosted two NCAA tournament opening rounds in football and men’s soccer, to boot.
Individually, five Hope student-athletes earned All-American honors, two more were league MVPs, and 42 total received All-MIAA accolades.
CROSS COUNTRY
The 27th-ranked Hope College women’s cross country team won
its fifth MIAA championship in a row and qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships for the 10th consecutive year under coach Mark Northuis ’82. The Flying Dutch were led by a freshman Anna Tucker (pictured) of Midland, Michigan, who was runner-up at the MIAA Championships and finished 24th at nationals with a time of 22:00.01. The former result earned Tucker All-MIAA honors and the latter finish made her an All-American, Hope’s ninth all-time in women’s cross country.
Tucker was joined on the All-MIAA First Team by senior Anna Frazee of Watervliet, Michigan, and senior Chelsea Miskelley and junior Jacinda Cole, both of Holland, Michigan. On the All-MIAA Second Team were: Senior Rebecca Duran of Palatine, Illinois, and senior Kelly Peregrine of Traverse City, Michigan.
The Hope College men’s cross country team ran to a tie for third place in the MIAA. The squad was led by sophomore Nick Hoffman of Holland, Michigan who earned All-MIAA Second Team honors. Hoffman finished 14th at the league meet.
FOOTBALL
Hope College football won its first MIAA championship since 2007 and first outright title since 2006 by going undefeated in league play (7-0) and claiming only its second nine-win season ever (9-2). Under AFCA Region 4 Coach of the Year Peter Stuursma ‘93, the Flying Dutchmen received an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs by virtue of their MIAA crown and played a first-round NCAA Division III Championship game at home at Ray and Sue Smith Stadium. The Flying Dutchmen lost to Wartburg College (Iowa) in that playoffs opener.
Nine Hope players were selected to the All-MIAA First Team, including dual league MVPs: Senior quarterback Mason Opple (offense) of Hudsonville, Michigan, and senior defensive back
Mason Dekker (defense) of Holland, Michigan (pictured top) who was
also made The Associated Press NCAA Division III All-America Second Team. Joining Dekker and Opple on the MIAA First Team were: Senior defensive tackle Jake Babb of Caledonia, Michigan; senior safety Luke Beckhusen of Coldwater, Michigan; senior receiver Christian Bos of Hudsonville, Michigan; senior punter Austin Heeres of Wyoming, Michigan; sophomore running back Kenyea Houston of Chicago, Illinois; senior left tackle Timothy Ivery of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; and, senior center Zach Smith (pictured bottom) of Suttons Bay, Michigan. Smith was also named an AFCA and D3football.com First-Team All-American, and the winner of the Rimington Trophy as the best center in NCAA Division III.
All-MIAA Second Team honorees were: Senior receiver Cooper Cecchini of Hudsonville, Michigan; senior left tackle Noah DeVelder of Grand Rapids, Michigan; junior right tackle Brady Eding of Hamilton, Michigan; junior running back Connor Mellon of Adrian, Michigan; and, sophomore linebacker Jeremiah Purnell of Wyoming, Michigan.
GOLF
Both men’s and women’s golf took second place in the league. Each will host an MIAA NCAA qualifying round
in the spring due to those finishes.
On the men’s side, head coach Scott Lokers’ Flying Dutchmen finished the fall season with a league 301.7 stroke average. Freshman Jack Crawford of Carmel, Indiana, earned All-MIAA First Team honors, while senior Daniel Settecerri of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and freshman Drew Dykens of Holland, Michigan, were awarded second-team All-MIAA honors.
The Flying Dutch, coached by Greg Stafford, finished with a 335.0 stroke average in the MIAA. Juniors Jordyn Rioux of Livonia, Michigan, and Abby Meder of Lansing, Michigan, as well as sophomore Megan Jenkinson of Traverse City, Michigan, all received second-team All-MIAA accolades.
SOCCER
In men’s and women’s soccer, runner-up finishes were again achieved by two like-sport teams. The Flying Dutchmen finished with a 14-6-1 overall record, 6-1 in the league, while the Flying Dutch had a mark of 6-5-6 overall and 5-1-2 in the MIAA.
Head coach Dave Brandt’s men’s team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, and Hope hosted the first two rounds at Van Andel Soccer Stadium for the first time ever. The Flying Dutchmen were defeated by Ohio Wesleyan University in the first round.
The Hope College men’s soccer trio of senior midfielder Isaac Braak of Hudsonville, Michigan, sophomore midfielder Ryan Flynn of Bloomington, Illinois, and senior defender Jordan Hooker of Grand Rapids, Michigan, claimed All-MIAA First Team honors while sophomore forward Alec Belcastro of Washington, Pennsylvania, was chosen as the MIAA Newcomer of the Year. Belcastro was among four second-team honorees, along with junior midfielder Ty Dalton of Rockford, Michigan, sophomore defender Brett Dyer of Northport, Michigan, and senior forward Logan Bylsma (pictured) of Hudsonville, Michigan. Bylsma was also named CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American for Division III.
In women’s soccer, four players earned
All-MIAA honors: senior midfielder Megan Bigelow of Flushing, Michigan,
and junior midfielder Maria Egloff of Kalamazoo, Michigan, on the first team, and junior forward Corinne Cole of St. Paul, Minnesota, and freshman defender Erin Powers of Norton Shores, Michigan on the second team.
VOLLEYBALL
Coach Becky Schmidt’s ’99 volleyball team finished runner-up in the MIAA and received an at-large bid to the 2019 NCAA Division III Championship for the 12th time in 14 years. where the 10th-ranked Flying Dutch advanced to the regional final before bowing to host Calvin University in four sets. Volleyball finished with a 24-8 overall record, 7-1 in the league.
Sophomore middle hitter McKenna Otto (pictured) of Wheaton, Illinois, not only earned All-MIAA First Team honors, she was also selected as a second-team NCAA Division III All-American by the AVCA.
Also receiving All-MIAA First Team recognition was sophomore outside hitter Ana Grunewald of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Two more Flying Dutch were selected to the All-MIAA Second Team: Senior libero Gabbi Vachon of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and sophomore setter Tracy Westra of Clarendon Hills, Illinois.
MIAA COMMISSIONER’S AND LEARFIELD CUP STANDINGS
Hope College is in first place in the MIAA Commissioner’s Cup all-sports standings after the fall season with a total of 64.5 points in four men’s and four women’s sports. Calvin University is second (49), while Trine University is third (48.5). The Commissioner’s Cup award is based on the cumulative performance of each member school in the league’s 23 sports — 11 in women’s sports and 12 in men’s sports, with each school counting its top eight finishes by gender. The fall update includes each school’s MIAA finish in all sports.
In the first update of the NCAA Division III Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup, Hope stands in 22nd place after the fall. Points are awarded based on each institution’s finish in NCAA Championships. Hope totaled 186 points by reaching the regional final in women’s volleyball, finishing 27th in women’s cross country and earning first round points in football and men’s soccer.
There are 446 schools in NCAA Division III.
Every sport, every single one, has one thing in common — doing math. The simple act of keeping score is simple math, and in every sporting event, there is a score. Of course, many other mathematical equations make up sports calculations beyond scoring. Percentages. Averages. Totals. Comparisons. Statistical collection is the very backbone of all athletic contests and fodder for all sporty pundits to make their cases for the reasons behind winning and losing.
In “We Do the Math,” we’ll look at some unique numbers beyond scores and common statistics that give you new numeric ways to look at Hope sports. You just may find that, as American mathematician and Field Medal winner William Paul Thurston said, “mathematics is not about numbers, equations, computations or algorithms; it’s about understanding.”
Up first, Hope College men’s and women’s golf, both runners up in the MIAA in 2019. Here are some idiosyncratic ways that the teams’ six-week fall season (they also play for another five weeks in the spring) added up.
| Men’s Golf | Women’s Golf |
| 11 – Number of contests | 11 – Number of contests |
| 198 – Total holes played/golfer | 198 – Total holes played/golfer |
| 1,188 – Total holes played as a team | 1,188 – Total holes played as a team |
| 73,443 – Total yards played/golfer | 63,925 – Total yards played/golfer |
| 41.73 – Miles walked/golfer | 36.32 – Miles walked/golfer |
| 250.38 – Total miles walked as a team | 217.92 – Total miles walked as a team |
| 1,798.9 – Total van miles driven by Coach Scott Lokers ’81 | 1,564.4 – Total van miles driven by Coach Greg Stafford |
“Put me in coach, I’m ready to play — clap clapclapclap — today. Put me in coach, I’m ready to play today.”
John Fogerty’s rock-and-roll anthem about America’s national pastime blared from the sound system one quintessential fall day at a unique field last September. Without a second thought to the background music, children with physical and cognitive challenges — youngsters with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, autism, hearing or sight loss, limb differences and cancer diagnoses — put the peppy lyrics into jaunty motion. They tugged caps on heads, slipped hands to gloves, heaved neon-yellow softballs, swung aluminum bats, connected barrel to ball, and aimed their way for first base, then second, then third, onward to home. With Hope College softball student-athletes by their sides, unstoppable smiles lit their way.
At the West Michigan Miracle League (WMML), a place where “every
child deserves a chance to play,” the tune that pays rowdy tribute to baseball also does another important thing: It highlights the liberating and rejuvenating power of play, no matter one’s abilities or life circumstance. There may not be a better place in America to shout its catchy chorus.
“Look at me … I can be … centerfield.”
Since the WMML started in 2013 in Rockford at Nate Hurwitz Field, head coach Mary VandeHoef has scheduled a fall-ball Saturday to take her Flying Dutch softball team on the 40-mile trek away from campus to give back via a sport that is as organic to them as outfield grass. Each Hope student-athlete is paired with a Miracle League child playing in one of three one-hour games. With their families in tow, the children, ages five to 18, travel in from throughout the region to band together and play a beloved game that strengthens their social bonds, self-esteem and physical coordination. It is an inclusive experience for them to feel valued and seen.
Everything at WMML is ADA-compliant, from field to dugout accessibility. Bases are sewn into the artificial turf so wheelchairs or walkers have no hindrances on the base paths. The rest of the field has true Little League dimensions and aura, though, right down to the advertisers in the outfield and an enthusiastic PA announcer.
Waves of applause and appreciation fall over them, and they are covered in a uniform of delight. And while they are, though they don’t know it, the WMML kids are imparting life lessons to college students. It’s a profound paradox that plays out quite regularly on this field of miracles.
Hands over hearts, players and volunteers begin every game in proper seriousness with the national anthem, and then with the next diamond- related tradition. “Let’s play ball” jump-starts unbridled exuberance. Every WMML child — with varying degrees of help from their Hope buddies — bats, gets on base, scores and plays a position in the field. The positive energy they emit lets off enough wattage to light up the scoreboard.
And that scoreboard, at the end of each of the two innings shows a tie ballgame between teams that take on the names of colleges favored by WMML coaches in the fall — MSU Spartans, CMU Chippewas, Ole Miss Rebels, Hope Flying Dutch, for example — and Major League Baseball teams in the spring. For posterity, the stretch between the first and second inning includes a rousing rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
Through it all, WMML children are taught, encouraged and cheered again and again by their coaches, their families, their buddies. They soak in that affirmation every time a ball is hit, fielded and thrown; every time a base is reached and a run is scored. Waves of applause and appreciation fall over them, and they are covered in a uniform of delight. And while they are, though they don’t know it, the WMML kids are imparting life lessons to college students. It’s a profound paradox that plays out quite regularly on this field of miracles.
The same glove junior centerfielder Jo Cook uses to snag towering fly balls or screaming line drives at Hope’s Wolters Stadium is the same glove that she uses to patiently help her Miracle League buddies scoop up grounders that may slowly roll their way. Its leathery power is in its versatility to be used whenever and wherever it’s needed, whether on a college field or on a smaller one, just like Cook herself.
“Miracle League brings into perspective several important things in my life,” says the nursing major. “These kids teach me to be joyful for all that I have, even the little things, even the trials. They teach me to not take a day for granted. And they remind me that God gave me these athletic abilities to use at Hope but also to use to help others.”
Cook then pauses just a bit, collects up another insight as if loading up that helpful glove and adds, “Honestly, when I think about it, the Miracle League kids are using their abilities to help me, too. They show me that this sport that I love to play might have frustrating practices or games at times, but that shouldn’t matter. I do this because I love it, just like they do.”
Like little Louie, one Miracle League child, does. Though non-verbal, Louie expresses his joy to Cook through physical communication. His movements display a transparent happiness to be right where he is. He lightly touches the ball, touches Cook’s hand, touches her hair. Then he smiles, returns his focus to the game, and Cook understands his gladness in that moment. And she is happy, too. Joy sometimes needs no words, just a game to play and a person to share it with.
For junior Claire Bates, Miracle League day is one she looks forward to every fall because it connects with her Christian calling, personally and academically. A social work major, Bates sees much of her volunteering time through the lens of her faith — “We’re called to be the hands and feet of the Lord and this is one clear way that we can do that” — and her soon-to-be profession — “one that focuses on building strengths to help clients create solutions.”
“I think Miracle League is a beautiful example of that [vocational
philosophy] because they’re looking at what kids can do and celebrating that and never really looking at their limitations,” Bates says.
“I think it really just comes down to appreciating and recognizing our able-bodied privilege. Miracle League makes me think how we can play this sport in a way that honors it and appreciates it in a much deeper fashion.“ — Claire Bates
Then, like Cook did earlier, Bates stops to think more intently
about how much the Miracle League children make a difference
in her life, now and into a future that she will spend in service
to others. What she articulates is a profundity beyond most 20-year-olds’ years.
“I think it really just comes down to appreciating and recognizing
our able-bodied privilege,” she says. “Miracle League makes me think how we can play this sport in a way that honors it and appreciates it in a much deeper fashion. Like Jo said, when we do have bad days at practice or when there’s just rough plays in a game, at the end of the day, we still get to play a sport that we love completely. It just brings a whole new gratefulness.”
From Hope teammate to Hope teammate, Miracle League player to Miracle League player, evidence and expressions of gratitude abound. As they are, Acts 20:35 — “It is more blessed to give than receive” — gets pitched a curveball. Who are actually the ones giving? Who is doing the receiving? Coach VandeHoef knows the answers to those questions full well.
“We always leave feeling we received more than we gave, and that’s a pretty special feeling,” she confirms.
Other Hope teams, organizations and alumni volunteer at WMML — the women’s basketball team, the baseball team, the men’s basketball team, the SIB sorority, and grads Don Kent ’19 and Bob Dame ’83 — and each are as enthusiastic about their service there as the softball squad. WMML co-founder and commissioner Tony Comden of Zeeland, Michigan, values the league’s partnership with Hope, an
association that started with the league’s beginning. “We love how Hope students love on our kids,” says Comden. “They are amazing representatives of the college.”
Hope’s participation has influenced other MIAA teams to take part at Miracle League, too. Word has spread; volunteering there is a contagious exercise. “Too many volunteers and not enough parking — those are nice problems for a non-profit to have,” Comden adds.
“We love how Hope students love on our kids,” says Tony Comden. “They are amazing representatives of the college.”
After the end of day of service, the Flying Dutch walk to that full parking lot after packing up their gear at the field. Animated still, they share stories and laughter, piling slowly into their cars for the hour drive back to Hope. It is clear that it will take a long time for their Miracle League cheer to fade. Maybe it never will. Sophomore Whitney Wegener, for one, knows she’s made memories and learned lessons at WMML that will last her lifetime.
“Here, there might be challenges connecting verbally or physically, but it’s just about being in the moment,” Wegener says. “Then, the disability disappears, and we are all just kids at play. It’s a leveling field here. We’re all really the same deep down.”
With those last seven words, Wegener rips the cover off the essence of Miracle League play. They are words as sweet and true as a homerun lifted straight toward the heart of centerfield.
Photographs by Steven Herppich
