FSU WOMEN'S SOCCER REPRESENTED ON SPRING BREAK MISSION TRIP

Five Bulldog Players Among Working Ferris Contingent Donating Time

Building Something Special

In the top picture, Ferris State women's soccer players (left to right) Carla Gilbertson, Kristin Aukeman, Lyndsay Sleek, Janelle Ausema and Anne Simmons take time out to pose for a photo during their spring break mission trip. They are also shown in the second photo together. Photos three and four are of trip participants working on the mission project. The entire group is shown in the fifth photo while the soccer players take time out to pose with legendary North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance in the final photo.

Recently, five members of the Ferris State University women's soccer program took the lesson a step further and learned how to build something of even greater significance while forming successful relationships at the same time.

The Bulldog sophomore contingent of goalkeeper Carla Gilbertson (Waunakee, Wis.), midfielder Lyndsay Sleek (Royal Oak/Kimball) and defender Anne Simmons (Columbus, Ind./East) along with junior midfielders Kristin Aukeman (Hudsonville/Unity Christian) and Janelle Ausema (Kalamazoo/Christian) traveled with a group of Ferris students and faculty members over the recent spring break period (March 4-12) to Engelhard, N.C., where they helped construct and build a 60-x-80 foot church addition in an area devastated by Hurricane Isabelle in 2003.

The five soccer players, who are all members of Ferris' Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) chapter, were among 23 university students who took part in the trip, which was organized by Ferris Campus Pastor Mike Wissink of the Fellowship of Christian Students.

"We've talked about character and image in our FCA group for some time," Wissink said. "This trip helped develop a positive impact in the idea in which we see our student-athletes among the foremost representatives of our university community."

As part of the addition to the church, the crew helped build the foundation and walls for the facility, which served as a shelter during the hurricane. The church addition was necessary due to the destruction of other churches in the area not slated to be replaced. Also, several members of the Ferris group spent time painting a local house damaged by the storm.

"This was a great alternative to a typical spring break for our players who made the trip," said FSU head coach Melissa Lalonde. "They've been such hard workers and are a group whom I haven't really had to motivate. This is just another avenue in which they can take pride in their work."

The Merci Agency, which is an inter-faith group affiliated with the United Methodist Church, served as a clearinghouse for the trip and put the various volunteer organizations to work in the local area equipped with building plans and materials. The members of Ferris' group left on a Friday (March 4) and returned the following Saturday (March 12). They traveled in two 15-passenger vans and stayed in church facilities while away from home.

"It was exciting to see our regular Ferris students intermingle with the student-athletes involved on the trip," Wissink said. "Many of them have developed new friendships from this experience. It was neat to see the openness they all shared with each other and the hospitality they displayed toward each other."

The group also included redshirt freshman offensive tackle Bill Bourdlais (Newberry) of the Ferris State football team along with current FSU professor John Vanderploeg and his wife, Dee. The student-athletes became involved after reading material about the mission trip during an FCA meeting. According to Wissink, it was the first time in 16 years the Fellowship of Christian Students and a group of FCA student-athletes had volunteered their time together to make a trip of this nature.

"We talked about sports, but this was also a chance to get away from it and spend time making a positive difference through lives lived in gratitude for what Christ has expressed in service to others," he said. "New friendships were formed quickly and everyone worked extremely well together on the mission."

Ferris' crew members worked on both the church and house sites through rainy and windy conditions at various times. The students helped prepare meals for the job site and spent time singing and playing games at night throughout the week.

A highlight of the trip for the soccer players came on the way home when they ran into legendary University of North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance on a stop near Chapel Hill, N.C. It wrapped up what had already been an enjoyable week of activity.

"It was a tremendous experience for them helping people they didn't even know," Lalonde said. "They've always been extremely motivated and this was an opportunity for them to contribute to something else of such great significance."

Ferris State concluded the 2004 women's soccer campaign with an 9-9-1 overall mark under Lalonde, which represented the program's second-best performance in its five-year history and included a fifth place 3-5 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) finish.