This past week was perhaps the most important to date for Coach Rumenapp and Coach Teesdale and the lady Tigers.  Four recruits, Jamie Hanna (Hudsonville, MI) , Samantha Toller (Mobile, AL), Maggie McCann (Flint, MI) and Lindsey Anible (Sparta, MI) all signed with the Tigers for the upcoming season.

“These four young ladies give us a lot of options for the upcoming year.” Said Coach Rumenapp, “They all have experience and have the potential to be immediate contributors for us this season.”

Coach Rumenapp has officially announced the hire of Scott Teesdale as the assistant coach for the Lady Tigers.  Coach Scott has been involved with soccer since the 1970s and has played at numerous levels including competitive amateur leagues in West Michigan after representing the Michigan State Spartans while in college.  Scott now lives locally in Wyoming, a few blocks away from Grace Bible College with his Wife, and two children, Sarah (17) and Ian (12).  The Teesdale family are active members of Calvary Baptist Church.

“Asking Scott to join me at Grace will probably be the easiest decision I have to make all year.” Said Coach Rumenapp. “I have known him since I moved to Grand Rapids and have played a bit of soccer with him as well.  We have similar philosophies pertaining to soccer and compliment each other well.  Scott also adds perspective to the team.  Being a bit older and having a daughter close to the age of these ladies he is a great fit as far the intangibles of coaching goes (character development and spiritual walk), and I value those things every bit as much as pure coaching ability.”

Accompanying Debbie Pekel (center) while signing at Grace was Jessica Pekel (mother, left), Brianna Pekel (sister, top) and Grandma (Right)

Lady Tigers are pleased to announce the signing of Debbie Pekel from Fruitport High School.  Debbie will be representing Grace this upcoming season in both women’s soccer and basketball.  She is a gifted athlete and will be a nice addition to both teams.

During her high school career Debbie was a 5 sport athlete, competing in basketball, soccer, volleyball, cross country and track.  Amongst her numerous awards Debbie was named to the Honorable Mention All-Area and All-District teams as well as being recognized with the 80-minute award throughout her career.  Perhaps her most impressive accomplishments.

Outside of Athletics Debbie has shown great leadership capabilities and dedication to her studies.  Dating back to middle school she has achieved the academic honor roll 6 times as well as finishing in the top 10% of her graduation class. She has received academic awards in Spanish, Math and PE to go along with 2 years of National Honor Society, 4 years of Spanish Club and 2 years as a member of the Student Athlete Leadership Team.

Debbie is the daughter of Jessica Pekel and also has the distinction of being a quadruplet along with her sister (Brianna) and 2 brothers (Cody and Alan).  She has one additional sibling, an older brother, Matt.

Coach Rumenapp had this to say about Debbie, “Debbie brings a lot to the table, not just as an athlete, but as a person as well.  She is very gifted athletically as shown by her high school accomplishments and she hates losing and strives to improve.  What I have been most impressed with by Debbie is how all of that is secondary to living her life in a way that honors Christ. She has been raised well and is very level headed and I am very excited to have the opportunity to see her continue to grow as part of the Grace family.”

 On Tuesday, April 2nd, Coach Rumenapp and his wife, Aubrey, welcomed their second son into the world.  Carter Joseph was born at 7:29AM at Metro Hospital in just outside Grand Rapids.  Carter was 21″ long and weighed 8lb 7oz and was perfectly healthy.  Both Coach Rumenapp and his wife.  After being home from the hospital for a few days coach Rumenapp commented on the adjustments of having 2 young boys at home.

“It’s different.  It is no longer a 2 on 1 situation.  Greyson, our eldest, is still only 18 months old and used to having all the attention.  At first he was confused, but he seems to be adjusting pretty well to having a newborn around.  He is surprisingly gentle with him, and is very curious about him.  It will be fun to see how things go as they get older.”

Area high schools are on Spring Break this week following Easter.  Instead of going away for the week a handful of players from Potter’s House High School will be focusing on improving soccer technique and form with Coach Rumenapp.  Coach Rumenapp has remained connected with Potter’s House ever since completing his student teaching there and assisting with both the boy’s and girl’s teams in the 2010-2011 school year.  These are his thoughts on the trainings:

“I love the Potter’s House.  I really do.  I have always been impressed with their school and the work they do, and I was greatful to be a part of it.  To this day I still substitute teach whenever I can and I still remain in contact with several players whom I coached and have graduated and moved on.  So when some of the girls asked if I would work with them over their Spring Break it was an decision to make.  A few of the girls that are coming I coached when they were freshmen.  It is a joy to see them as juniors now and be able to work with them again and see how much they have improved.  As a coach that is what you live for, seeing the players improve.”

It’s that time of year again!  Women’s high school soccer season, or for Coach Rumenapp, recruiting season. When he was asked about his thoughts entering his first recruiting season as Grace’s women’s coach he had this to say,

“It is definitely going to be a fun time.  Busy, but fun.  I think I have an idea of what to expect as I have been through a season or two of it with the men’s team, but I had one job for coach Buchanon: find a keeper.  This will be a fun challenge because I cannot be so narrow focused, I have to inventory the players I have and take a look at what our main positional or talent needs are then go out and find players to fit those roles.  Make no mistake, recruiting is not just confined to these last few months of the school year, it is a year round process. It is about building relationships with athletes and their families, but this is the time of year where the soccer side of recruiting is on display the most and where new contacts can be made and new reltionships built.  I already have several girls I have been in contact with for the upcomming year, but I need to work hard to add to that list as well as look ahead to the 2014 and 2015 seasons as well.  I cannot be near sighted this time of year.”

Coach Rumenapp went on to explain that he already has quite a few games marked on his calendar and that it is quickly filling up.  With so many games to go to and families to meet with (at least three recruits on the east side of Michigan in the Detroit and Port Huron areas) it makes for a busy time of year.  With having a young family it can be even more daunting for a first year coach to undertake, when Coach Rumenapp was approached with how he balances family time and recruiting he answered, “I have a good wife who is very patient.  Other than that, just like in all things, you need to be intentional about what you do as far as time spend with family. President Kemper once told me, ‘Wherever you are, be there.’” 

Autumn Befus

Coach Rumenapp and Grace Bible College would like to welcome Autumn Befus as the newest member of the Tiger family.  Autumn, daughter of Charles and Joy Befus, will be able to have the unique opportunity to play along her older sister, Erin, at Grace next season.  Autumn will be adding to the legacy of her family putting on the blue and gold of the Tigers.  In recent years, her older brother (Caleb) and cousin (Brent) played alongside Coach Rumenapp during their time as Tigers.  Cameron (brother) and Josh (cousin) are current members of the men’s team as well.  Amber Befus (now Kemper) and Terrah, both played multiple sports for Grace when they were in school as well.

As a player Autumn’s prowess cannot be questioned.  She was an integral part of her high school team, American International School of Costa Rica.  Autumn also played for her local town team, Asociación Deportiva Belemita where she was also a big contributor.  Autumn’s biggest accomplishment to date, was being invited to train with the Costa Rican Women’s National Team for a month this past summer.

“Obviously, I am thrilled to have a player with these credentials join our program, and she is left footed as well.” Said Coach Rumenapp, “The ladies on the team are very excited about Autumn.  They knew there was a chance she would be joining us and I broke the news to them last week and they were very pleased to say the least.  Above and beyond all the obvious things Autumn brings as an athlete, she is a very well rounded young lady an has great character and will be a nice fit for our program.”

Coach Rumenapp has called a meeting for all returning and potential players on Wednesday February 6th at 4:30 pm on campus at Grace.  Coach Rumenapp’s explains his reasons for the meeting:

“The focus of the meeting is really for myself and the players to become a bit more acclimated with each other as early as possible and begin building relationships.  I was present last year with the men’s team, but I didn’t really have a chance to get to know many players on the women’s team.  So they may know my face, but not many of them know who I am or what my principals and philosophies are as a coach.

“This meeting will give current and potential players a chance to get to know my vision for the team and build some level of comfort with me before the season starts.  I know from experience how difficult it is to show up the first day of training camp with a new face as the coach and have no idea what the expectations are or what direction they want to take the team.  I would like to avoid that and be able to give them as much information in advance and allow the players to ask any questions they may have.  We will also go over a few other things such as the tentative schedule for next season and discuss the possibility and availability of off-season workouts.

“This meeting will also give me a better idea of what I will have in terms of personnel and what positions the ladies play, so I have a bit of direction during recruiting knowing what positions I need to focus my efforts on when adding new players to team.  Above all I am just very excited to get involved with the team as much as possible and doing whatever I can to help the program achieve its potential.”

Director of Sports Operations, Gary Bailey, is pleased to announce that Josh Rumenapp has been named Head Coach for the Women’s Soccer’s Team.  Josh has been an assistant coach at both the high school and collegiate level and is very excited to have a chance to be involved in a larger role this season.  He has been involved with the sport for 20 years and has a passion for developing players skill, as well as their character.

Coach Rumenapp was a 4 year starter during high school for New Life Christian Academy.  He was awarded 3 1st Team All-Conference Awards as well as All-Region, All-Area and Honorable Mention All-State during his senior year.  Coach Rumenapp followed his high school career with a solid career at Grace Bible College where he was the first 4 year starter at the keeper position the school had seen in many years.  During his collegiate career, Coach Rumenapp finished in the top five in single season saves 3 times and owns the top spot on that list.  He also holds the all-time saves record for men’s soccer (862).  Josh was named the Tiger’s defensive MVP 3 times (2006-2008) and the teams most valuable player during his final season in 2009.  In 2009, he also was honored as a 1st Team All-Region selection and an ACCA All-American.

Since 2009 Coach Rumenapp has been an assistant coach at both the high school level and collegiate level for both men’s and women’s teams working primarily with goalkeepers.  He has had 3 of his high school keepers earn all-conference and all-district team honors and another named to their All-Region team.  At the collegiate level (with Grace) he has coached their keeper to the ACCA All-Tournament Team.

Coach Rumenapp Graduated from both Grace Bible College and Cornerstone University in 2011 with degrees in Religious Education and Secondary Education (Social Studies) respectively.  He married his wife, Aubrey (also a graduate of GBC and Cornerstone) in 2009. In September 2012 they welcomed their first son, Greyson, into their family and will be welcoming their second addition in April of this year.

“We are very happy to have Josh as our Women’s Soccer Coach,” said Gary Bailey.  “There is no doubt that he has the knowledge to coach at this level and plenty of experience working with players to be a great coach.  We welcome Josh and Aubrey and their family back to Grace and look forward to watching Josh build on an already good program.”

The GBC women’s soccer team wrapped up its season with a banquet this past Sunday evening in Fremont at Coach Yon’s farm.  The evening began with a bonfire followed by a hayride through the property.  Once the ride was over the fire was a welcomed sight as the evening was chilly with frost on the ground.  As the team huddled around eating brats and chili each player was recognized and awards were distributed.

The Lady Tigers ended with three individuals on the Mid-West All-Regional Team.  Destiny Banasihan, Jessica Pegg, and Kerie Rudd were all named as All-Region players.  The team awards were also given.  The Most Improved Player for the 2012 season was Erin Befus.  Erin’s hard work and drive led to amazing improvement as she became the team’s defensive specialist.  The Iron-Maiden Award was given to Jessica Pegg.  Jessica never missed a practice all year long, playing through many injuries and pain while still performing at a high level.  Finally, Kerie Rudd was selected as the Most Valuable Player. Kerie’s leadership and skill were once again invaluable to the team as she modeled dedication through her actions.

The 2012 season ended on a high note with the Tigers winning 4 out of their last 7 matches.  With a solid recruiting class on the horizon, things continue to look bright for the future of the women’s soccer team.