Last September, when I came for my overnight recruitment visit to Hope, I had no idea what to expect. I had all sorts of emotions, and for the most part, I was very nervous. Long story short, I had a great time, and Hope won my heart over. However, out of all the awesome events that occurred that weekend, my favorite of all was the SAC (Student Activities Committee) sponsored dodgeball tournament.
Playing dodgeball on my Friday night at Hope was never part of the plan. In fact, my overnight host, Toby Blom, got a last-minute call to join the team. As a prospective student-athlete, I’ll never forget what it was like to play dodgeball in front of some of my future peers, in arguably the nicest basketball arena DIII has to offer. To top it off, our team the “Jungle Cats” ended up winning the tournament! My teammates (all juniors at Hope) started a “He’s in high school” chant that echoed through out Devos. It was a great experience!
This past Friday night, I had another chance to play with the Jungle Cats. The only change was that this time, I was the one hosting an overnight recruit! It was so much fun to see the same experience I had last year from a different perspective. It helped that The Jungle Cats, for the third year in a row, won the tournament. We did our best to re-create the champions photo from last years victory with Boone, the goalkeeper recruit who is visiting me this weekend.
I’ll never forget that feeling of knowing Hope was the place for me. Where else in the country can you win a dodgeball tournament on your recruitment visit?
I hope everyone enjoys their weekend, I know I’ll be enjoying mine! The men’s soccer team is taking on Adrian College today at 4:30 at Van Andel. Hoping to find our way back into the top four of the MIAA!
With love,
Steve