Argos friends reunite at Bethel
EMail keeps them together
By Ken Fox
Sports Correspondent
MISHAWAKA � It all started with a simple e-mail.
An e-mail that kept two long-time friends together on the Bethel College soccer team for the 2002 season.
Tracy Ummel and Elizabeth Huyn have been friends and teammates since the third grade. Both graduated from Argos High School in 2000 and are now juniors at Bethel.
But after playing for coach Pete Morey at Bethel for two years, Ummel was not planning to play soccer this season, preferring to work on her degree in Business Administration.
That�s when Morey took things into his own hands, e-mailing Ummel just a few days before fall practice was set to begin.
�I just wasn�t going to let Tracy quit,�� Morey admitted. �She wasn�t real thrilled with her playing time the first two years she was here, but I knew her personality and leadership qualities were going to be very important to our team this season. Plus, I knew there was a spot for her.��
So, Morey sent the email to Ummel in Bloomington, Ind., where she was living for the summer. By the time Ummel decided that B.C. soccer would be in her future after all, it was just three days before the reporting date for fall practice.
�I really had made up my mind in the spring not to play and I was OK with it,�� Ummel said. �I just wasn�t sure I wanted to put the work in to get into shape for the long season. But when coach sent the e-mail, it made me feel wanted and I decided to go ahead and play.
�The first week or so of practice was really hard � and I�m still feeling some of the stress of making such a quick decision� but right now, I feel that I�m in the best shape of my life.��
Prior to making her final decision, Ummel e-mailed Huyn in Argos to get her friend�s thoughts on returning to the field.
�I was very excited to hear that Tracy was thinking of playing,� Huyn said. �When she first told me that she wasn�t planning to play, I just couldn�t believe it. I mean, Tracy was the main person that got me into sports in the third grade . . . she was the athlete. So when I got her e-mail and then when she called me to say she was thinking of coming back, I really tried to persuade her to play.��
Ummel and Huyn have a long and successful history as teammates. In addition to their career at Bethel, the talented duo helped lead Argos to the school�s first sectional soccer title .
Huyn and Ummel, who have each scored once, are playing key roles in a rebuilding year for the Pilots. Ummel has played mostly at a forward spot, while Huyn has filled several roles � although her main job is to handle the free kicks and corner kicks.
�Liz has great speed and although she�s not a brute, she certainly won�t shy away from contact,�� Morey said. �Plus, she has a great foot � which is the reason she handles all our free kicks. In fact, her goal this season came on a free kick from about 35 yards out. She really nailed it.��
�Well, I�m not sure it was 35 yards, I think it was more like 20,�� Huyn said modestly. �It was against Malone (Ohio) College and it was the team�s first goal of the season. I lined it up and looked for a spot in the upper part of the goal and I hit the exact spot I was aiming for, so that was pretty cool.��
Ummel, who is battling a leg injury she suffered in practice, scored her first career goal earlier this season against St. Mary�s of the Woods.
�I�m playing an offensive position for the first time since the sixth grade and it�s really been enjoyable,�� Ummel said. �We�re a very young team and we�ve played a tough schedule, so our start hasn�t been what we all wanted. But I�ve got great teammates and I really feel that we�re improving as the season goes on. Hopefully, we�ll be ready when the conference schedule starts.��
�Tracy is the glue to this team,�� Morey said. �We only have one senior this season, so she�s taken on more of a leadership role. I believe the girls really look to her � both on and off the field. She works very hard and it�s no secret that she�s a Christian. She�s just a fun person to be around.��
Ummel and Huyn are just the latest in a long line of former Argos athletes to attend Bethel � a pipeline that started with Doug Snyder and Bill O�Dell in the �70s.
�The first time we came up to Mishawaka to start school, the two of us rode up together with all our belongings,�� Huyn said. �I remember growing up and talking about the two of us going to college together, so having the opportunity to do that and to still be playing soccer together, has been very special. We�ve had a lot of fun.��
And thanks to the World Wide Web and a coach that wouldn�t give up, that fun and the opportunity to win as teammates will continue for a little bit longer.
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