We celebrated our girls soccer seniors! Read what their parents had to say about them!

Blanca Serrano Alabau
Host Parents: Caleb and Kristen Parks

Blanca, 
Tonight, we celebrate you. Someone who came into our lives from Valencia and quickly became family.You brought with you courage, curiosity, and an eagerness to try new things, even joining the basketball and soccer teams! That takes strength not everyone has, especially at your age. Over this past year, we’ve watched you grow in several ways. You adapted to a new culture, a new school, a new language, and several new sports. You became an important part of each team and showed determination, resilience, and joy. We look forward to seeing where life takes you after you graduate and move back to Spain to pursue a career in education. We are so proud of the strong and independent person that you are, and will always be there to encourage you along the way. 
Caleb and Kristen

Sara Alonso Garcia
Host parents, Thomas & Pam Schofield

Sara,
Although you have only been in our lives for a few months, it has seemed like much longer because you “fit” in so well.  Your kind and quiet nature is balanced with your fun game loving competitive side.  We first saw it during our board game nights. Now, you have brought your competitiveness, strategy, and skills to a larger playing field. Soccer. This, your first season playing on a soccer (“futbol”) team, has been a season of growth.  Making new friends, achieving new goals, creating memories to last.  What a wonderful opportunity this has been.  What a special community God has placed in your midst.  Know that God is with you and has prepared a path for you filled with growth, prosperity, and hope.   Our bible verse to share with you is from Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Peace and love to you, dear Sara - - The Schofield family

Elise Hoekzema
Parents: Matt & Kim Hoekzema. 

Elise,
It has been such a gift to watch the ways God has used your incredible talents and beautiful spirit over these past four years—even in seasons when your knee injury kept you from fully participating on the field. Your high school athletic journey began with cheerleading, where your natural athletic ability and infectious joy made you a wonderful encourager to everyone around you. You then turned your focus to soccer. Your wophomore year was filled with growth, new challenges, and the formation of deep friendships. You stepped into new and difficult situations, and you thrived. These past two varsity seasons have been marked by the ongoing challenge of your knee injury. While your time on the field has been limited, your presence and impact on the team has never wavered. You showed up faithfully to every practice, remained a constant and uplifting presence on the sidelines, and cheered your teammates on to some incredible victories!vThough I know how much you longed to fully use your athletic gifts on the field, God has used your other strengths to uplift your teammates and shape you into the remarkable young woman you are today.
Love you,vMom, Dad, Adelyn, and Cecilia

Lilah Poel 
Parents: Rob & Lucinda Poel

Lilah,
It sounds cliche, but absolutely true to say we can’t believe we are here watching you play your senior year of soccer. From your early days of AYSO, moving to more competitive club soccer, and ending with four years of high school varsity, soccer has been an important part of who you are for almost your whole life. Last year’s magical playoff run to the state semi-finals was a high school sports core memory! Ever since you have been old enough to run and dribble a ball, your speed, endurance and competitive spirit have been hallmarks of your defensive play, qualities you also brought into your cross country and basketball seasons for four years. What joy it has brought us to watch you not only gain in skill and confidence, but also to witness the friendships you have developed, and the life lessons you have learned through your athletic pursuits. We’re truly going to miss watching you play, but we’re excited to see what God has in store for you as you head to Ann Arbor this fall to be a Michigan Wolverine.
We love you, Lilah! Dad, Mom, Tyler, Jenna and Kate.

Stella Sheldon
Parents: Peter and Rachel Sheldon

Stella,
Soccer has been around your life since you were young.  It took you around the country and you conquered the field in so many ways.  While we are proud of those successes, we delight in your self-awareness in recognizing when priorities need realignment.  We stood awestruck in your confidence when you stepped away from the game to realign yourself, your faith, your family and your friendships in the face of great headwinds.  We can say with great confidence that our daughter is ready for the world.  Stand firm in Christ.
Love Mom & Dad

Lydia Ydenberg
Parents: Marc and Shelly Ydenberg

Lydia, it has been so much fun watching you grow and succeed on the soccer field. Your love of soccer and your teammates has only expanded over the years as you progressed with each team you were a part of.  You are competitive, hard-working, unselfish and a great teammate and encourager especially to the underclassmen on the team.  Some soccer highlights include winning districts, regionals and becoming captain this year.  We are incredibly proud of you as a soccer player but even more proud of the young lady you are becoming. We know God has great plans for your future as you head off to Trine in the fall!  We love you!  
Mom, Dad, Sam & McKay, Grace, Matthew, Anna & Joe

Grand Rapids Christian is grateful for the contributions of these seniors and their families within our school and within Eagle athletics. We wish everyone a great finish to the season and blessings on next year as these athletes move on to the next phase of their lives. Go Eagles!