Rivaling for a Cause
January 25, 2013
It’s impossible to include all the perspective we gain from every “Battle of the Fans” visit.
But this anecdote, although it didn't make Tuesday’s story about our Frankenmuth trip, tells of another great example for what student cheering sections can accomplish.
Frankenmuth and Millington are heated rivals, to say the least, separated by 13 miles and made more competitive by plenty of championship-deciding matchups over the years.
But for their boys basketball game Jan. 10 at Frankenmuth, student section leaders from both schools almost completely on their own set up the game as a cancer awareness night, complete with Frankenmuth students in black shirts and Millington’s wearing pink.
The idea was the brainchild of a of Frankenmuth section leader, who then received help from a local bank and contacted Millington to get the ball rolling.
Battle of the Fans has shown us the obvious – these student sections need strong leaders – but also the special things they can accomplish with additional initiative.
“Never Forgotten”
Two more rivals, Fennville and Saugatuck, met late last month for their second “Never Forgotten” boys and girls basketball games with proceeds going to the Wes Leonard Heart Team for the purchase of AEDs.
Players wore jerseys with names on the backs of friends and family members who had died, and those jerseys were then given to family members after the games. Officials Ace Cover, Chris Dennie and Kyle Bowen also donated their game checks to the Heart Team, as did the winner of that night’s 50-50 raffle.
Leonard died from sudden cardiac arrest after making the game-winning shot in a basketball game March 3, 2011. The two schools played their first “Never Forgotten” games last season.
More support for less specialization
I’m asked once a year at least about sport specialization – that is, athletes focusing on just one sport, often from an early age, and if it pays off some way down the road.
Most of my evidence to support my belief in the well-rounded athlete has been anecdotal, based on conversations with people at the high school and college levels over the years. But a British study published this fall in the Journal of Sport Sciences by University of Birmingham researchers provides some interesting empirical findings.
The study of 1,006 people from the United Kingdom showed that those who participated in three sports at ages 11, 13 and 15 were “significantly more likely to compete at a national rather than club standard” between ages 16-18 than those who had practiced only one sport.
In other words, the study found that those who played more sports at earlier ages played at a higher level during their high school-age years, which seems to contradict the one-sport focus philosophy.
Click for more perspective on the study from Chris Kennedy, the Superintendent of Schools in West Vancouver, British Columbia.
PHOTO: The boys and girls teams for Fennville and Saugatuck pose together after their "Never Forgotten" games Dec. 21 at Fennville High. (Photo courtesy of Al LaShell.)
Glen Lake Aims to Transform League Dominance Into Postseason Potential
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
May 20, 2022
Meeting and exceeding expectations of the Northwest Conference has been little challenge lately for the Glen Lake girls soccer team.
The Lakers haven’t lost a conference match since 2019, also the last time they failed to win the conference championship.
On Monday, the Lakers have a chance to finish a second-straight undefeated league season when they take on Buckley, coming in at 4-5-4. The Lakers already have defeated the Bears this season, and no league opponent has come within six goals of catching them.
Glen Lake has scored 72 goals in league play and allowed just one.
But while the Lakers have fared very well against league competition over the last many years, they are eager to match that success in the MHSAA Tournament.
Fifth-year coach Eric Luthardt and the Lakers hope to get back to the deep postseason runs made under former coaches Andy Smith and Meg Murphy.
“Glen Lake girls have won quite a few conference titles in the years prior to me,” he said. “It is almost expected, kind of like Leland winning the boys.
“People just assume — and there are teams that assume — we’ll win the conference. But the big one that has been missing for a while has been a District championship,” he continued. “So that’s the next step for us.”
As the second seed in their District, the Lakers will open tournament play May 31 against the winner of Charlevoix and Leland. Top-seeded Harbor Springs is on the other side of the bracket, awaiting the winner of Grayling and Suttons Bay.
If the Lakers secure the District title, they will take on the winner of the McBain District. Host McBain Northern Michigan Christian has the number one seed there. The Lakers and the Comets have not met this season, and neither has faced Harbor Springs this spring.
“As far as accomplishments, we definitely want to win Districts, and I think we have a really strong chance at Regionals,” said Luthardt, who also serves as assistant coach on the Lakers boys team. “Harbor Springs will be challenging.
“McBain (NMC) has a really good soccer program – the boys are really good and the girls are really good,” he continued. “Plus, it is playoff time.”
Buckley, which went undefeated in league play last fall and advanced to the boys Regional, is coached by John Vermilya on both the boys and girls sides. He’s been very impressed by the Lakers this spring.
“This year, the Lakers are untouchable for the rest of us in the Northwest Conference,” he said. “They have two or three girls that are good enough to have been starters on our boys championship team.”
Glen Lake has only 14 players on the roster. The Lakers have been forced to play considerable minutes with just 10 on the field due to injuries and illnesses.
They have been led by junior center mid Ruby Hogan and senior forward Jess Robbins. Both have 25 goals; Hogan adds 16 assists and Robbins 11. One of Robbins’ goals was scored on a free kick from the midfield stripe.
The Lakers also have benefited from sophomore Paige Steffke’s 15 goals and 14 assists and junior Gemma Lerchen’s 13 goals and 10 assists.
Sophomore goalkeeper Natalie Bailey has gained tremendous experience and confidence, Luthardt pointed out. She has 37 saves on the season and has allowed only 16 goals – nine of which came during the Lakers’ first three games of the season.
A field player last year, Bailey recently has benefitted from the special coaching of Becca Nowicki, a former Lakers goal standout. Nowicki is back in the area after playing soccer in England last fall for the Macclesfield FC International Academy. Macclesfield bills itself as the United Kingdom’s leading private development academy.
“We want the goals, but the girls really want shutouts,” Luthardt noted.
The Lakers are 12-3 overall headed into the final regular-season game, and Luthardt is confident they have learned from their mistakes this season. Glen Lake’s defeats came to Division 1 Traverse City Central, the Traverse City West junior varsity and Division 3 No. 6 Elk Rapids.
“We had a couple of losses early in the season, which is a reminder of how far we’ve come,” he said. “We played panic ball.
“If we’re doing to go far, we’re going to have to correct that.”
Luthardt is enjoying the moment and taking things one day at a time. He anticipates much stronger conference opponents in the upcoming seasons resulting from developing community youth soccer programs.
Like Nowicki, other former players have shown a great interest in the Lakers’ efforts this year.
“It’s seeing the past Lakers players come to games and seeing how much they miss soccer,” Luthardt said. “Conference titles and these things are of course great, but it is the other stuff too that is really fun to see.”
Time will tell how far the Lakers go this tournament run.
“We want to try to get far as we can,” Luthardt said. “Obviously we have our eyes on the prize, you know, the one little thing, the Finals.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Glen Lake’s Gemma Lerchen (10) works to gain possession against Elk Rapids as referee Kevin Avery monitors the action. (Middle) Jess Robbins is tied for the Lakers’ team lead with 25 goals this spring. (Below) Ruby Hogan also has scored 25 goals, with a team-high 16 assists. (Photos by Jennifer Nowicki.)