Midwesterners Have Immediate Impact on Women's Soccer Team

This may be Greensboro, N. C., and at the Division III level it can be difficult to recruit top-shelf talent for women’s soccer, but Guilford head coach Eric Lewis has found a way to get students to Guilford from the Midwest who otherwise might not play college soccer.

            With five students from the Midwest contributing, the team has enjoyed a seven-game unbeaten streak, and has matched its win total from last year, (6). It is apparent that looking for talent away from the Atlantic Coast is lucrative. It’s actually a funny story how it started too.

Hannah Schiltz '15

            “We’ve had several players from Anne Arundel Community College (Md.) come to Guilford and I’m friends with their coach,” said Lewis. “When they made a national tournament in Kansas I went to watch them play. Another youth soccer tournament was going on there and I went and checked it out.”

            At North Carolina youth tournaments, Lewis estimates a one percent return on his recruits. But at the Kansas event, Lewis had three students come to Guilford, about a 15 percent return.

Bri Eilman '12

            “There aren’t that many Division III schools in the Midwest,” explained Lewis. “The biggest hurdle in getting players to come here is convincing them that DIII soccer isn’t recreation league. Once you get past that and they come here, it’s very exciting.”

            In fact there are only 78 Midwest Division III schools that field women’s soccer teams, just 17 percent of the total Division III schools in the country that sponsor the sport.

            As to why players from the Great Plains would want to come to Guilford, first-year Hannah Schiltz of Ashland, Mo., said, “I just wanted to get away. I live in the middle of the country and so there’s nothing really there. I got some looks from DI and DII but I like it here.”

Bre Rolofson '15

            Schiltz is the team’s leading scorer through 11 games with eight goals and ranked second in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).

            Senior Bri Eilman of Omaha, Neb. played Division I soccer for the University of Nebraska at Lincoln but came to Guilford after a back injury. She made an instant impact, earning Second Team All-ODAC honors in her first two years and serving as a team captain as well.

            “My coach kind of gave up on me (at Nebraska),” said Eilman, whose family is good friends with Lewis. “I just came for a visit and I like it.”

            As a matter of fact, the players from the Midwestern states are assimilating well to the eastern sea board.

            “I’m from Platte City, Mo., which is a suburb of Kansas City, so it’s really big,” said first-year Bre Rolofson when asked how she liked living in Greensboro.

On the other hand, Schiltz, from Ashland, Mo., with a population of 2,000, had a much bigger adjustment to make.

            “Living here is a lot different,” said Schiltz. “There are different groups of people and I’m meeting new people, but that’s why I wanted to get out of my little town.”

            With Lewis’ success recruiting in the Midwest he plans to continue making trips to the middle of the country to find talent.
Story by Will Cloyd

Q&A with Guilford Men's Soccer Standout Freddy Gomez

Q: What’s your name and what’s your position?

A: Freddy Gomez, I play midfield and forward.

Q: What is your year in school and your major?

A: I’m a junior accounting and Spanish double major.

Q: What is your favorite thing about being a student-athlete at Guilford?

A: Meeting new people and playing with new players.

Q: What is your favorite moment so far playing for Guilford?

A: Boy, that’s a good question. I’d say playing against Lynchburg last year when we beat them, 2-1.

Q: How was your experience this summer playing for the Carolina Dynamo?

A: Oh great, I mean playing with good players, learning a lot. Just meeting new people is great.

Q: How did the experience help expand your game and your development?

A: It helped me out like getting better with my skills and how to read the game and know the game better.

Q: What do you do outside of soccer or any hobbies you have?

A: I play ping-pong a lot. I do my homework. I watch to TV, and chat with my friends in Chile.

Q: When was the last time you got to go home, or do you get to go home that often?

A: It’s been four years since I’ve been home.

Q: How has that been being so far from home?

A: It’s hard. I mean I live here with my brother and sister and my mom’s back home so sometimes you need that kind of love you know but my brother and my sister being here helps me deal with it.

Q: So since you’ve had some success in the ODAC do you feel any added pressure to perform?

A: Of course. There are people out there watching you play and they know you can do something special.

Q: You know you’re at the top of the scouting report?

A: Yeah, but I just keep humble and do what I need to do to help the team.

Q: For the future do you plan on playing soccer professionally somewhere? Are you trying to go home?

A: I’m trying to go pro here or see if I can go somewhere else. I don’t really want to play in Chile. I want to go either to Spain or Mexico I guess and jump from there.

Q: Have you had any looks from scouts or talked to anyone about that?

A: Not yet, just the Dynamo and we’ll see what’s up after that.

Q: Are you going to play with them next summer?

A: Yeah, definitely.

Interview by Will Cloyd '12

Addie's All Smiles For Guilford Volleyball

She stands arms akimbo on Guilford’s sideline with warm-ups slung nonchalantly over her shoulder, a case of water bottles in her hand, and a huge smile on her face. Her name is Addie Sellars. She is much more than an assistant athletic trainer for the Guilford volleyball team, and she does much more than just hand out water bottles and hold jerseys.

She is a friend and an inspiration.

“She taught me patience. She taught me how to be selfless,” said Courtney Kozar '11, who worked with Sellars for four years out of Lindley Habilitation Services in Greensboro as part of her time with Guilford’s Principal Problem Solvers.

“One of Addie’s goals the first year when Courtney started working with her was interacting with people her own age. She’s been interacting with us and interacting with people that are her own age,” said Guilford head coach Emily Gann.

By achieving this goal Sellars helped the Quakers’ volleyball team in her own way.

“Addie brings a special spark to our team,” said Gann. “When she walks into the gym everyone lights up.”

Sellars not only helps the team on the sidelines, she also helps them on the court. “She helps us to relax and play our game,” said Gann.

A 22-year old graduate of Grimsley High School in Greensboro, Sellars works at Ark Bark selling doggy biscuits. She’s also an avid dancer. Her favorite is the Electric Slide.

Sellars started with the Quakers simply by coming to Quaker volleyball matches and sitting on the sideline, but eventually she accepted the job of assistant athletic trainer and began to develop a relationship with the team.

Sellars is the ultimate team supporter. 

“Somebody could be having the worst game of their career and she’ll still be there with a high five and their water bottle,” said assistant athletic trainer Danielle Duffy.

She brings an enthusiasm and a sense of optimism to the sideline that does not waver, no matter the score or the situation.

“She’s our personal motivator. She passes out towels, she hands out water bottles, and she gets in the circle and dances with us,” said sophomore Taylor Whitley, who now works with Sellars after Kozar graduated last May.

Kozar, Kat Weikel '13, Sellars and Duffy

As for future seasons, Gann hopes Sellars stays involved with the Quakers. “We hope that Addie will be involved for as long as she wants to be. She’s really just a friend who comes and helps out.”

A young woman who was once a stranger to this team came in and made it better, not by making plays or by creating strategy, but with her positive attitude.


Story by Will Cloyd '12

Community Wins In 2011 Soup Bowl

Greensboro Urban Ministry
before the Soup Bowl donations

On Sept. 3 the Guilford Quakers faced off against the Greensboro Pride in the 15th Annual Gate City Soup Bowl. The game was just a game with Guilford winning, 27-7, but the service done for the Greensboro Urban Ministry (GUM) and the hungry in Greensboro was truly amazing.

Guilford students collected 6,398 cans, and Greensboro and Guilford combined to bring in 9,774 items. The Quakers’ football team rose up and bought 1,100 cans, an average of over 13 cans per athlete.

“The coaches emphasized us bringing in cans all preseason,” said redshirt junior Ben King. “They even took away the ticket list and told us to tell our family members to bring cans.”

This huge amount of canned goods will help feed many families as the shelves of the GUM were almost empty prior to the game.

Poorly stocked shelves at the GUM

“Summer time is a bad time for us,” said Marcus Miller, who deals with food donations for the GUM.

“We’ve had people come in here recently who never thought they would be in here,” said Miller. He also said the GUM has doubled its output need, the amount of food it must provide, over the past few months due to the struggling economy.

“From September to December is when we do the best,” he said. The holidays bring the biggest donations.

The donations gathered at the Soup Bowl will go a long way towards filling the empty shelves of the GUM.

A portion of the donations at the Soup Bowl

Hundreds of people in need, especially those in the GUM’s emergency assistance program, will have food for a few days from the cans gained through the Soup Bowl, and the GUM coffers will be replenished until the holidays come again and people find it in their hearts to give to this worthy cause.



Story and photos by Will Cloyd  '12