Olszewski, Fern Adjust To New Roles With Grace Soccer Team

WINONA LAKE - Last year at this time, Jen Olszewski and Carol Fern were preparing to go to Florida as junior Grace College women's soccer players for the NCCAA National Championships.

This year, as seniors, the two are still preparing to go to Florida with the Grace College women's soccer team for the NCCAA National Championships.

But they are going in a different role. Both are undergraduate assistant coaches for head coach Mark Sproul this year.

With a strong recruiting class and the loss of just two seniors, Sproul knew that there would be some difficult decisions in cutting players. Olszewski was a reserve on the 1998 squad, but Fern was the starting goaltender.

However, with a strong incoming freshman in Hannah Loss and another senior who had missed all of last year with an injury in Sarah Orem, he knew that Fern would be the odd woman out.

But Sproul also knew that he wanted Olszewski and Fern to be able to continue to contribute to the team. So he asked them to be undergraduate assistants.

"I was excited because I knew that I would have a hard time training over the summer," Olszewski said. "Also, going into sports management, I thought this would be a good idea for me."

For Fern, who has total control over the goalkeepers, it was a different story.

"I battled with coach for about seven months," Fern said. "I did not want this position in the least. I did not want someone taking my position and I didn't want to help somebody get better at my position. I came this fall with the expectations of possibly getting to play as the keeper."

That mindset changed within a week, though.

"I really settled into the position and loved it," Fern said. "Hannah and Sarah have made it better than I could have ever expected."

When practice starts, Fern takes over as the goalkeeper coach. She works exclusively with Loss and Orem in improving technique. Olszewski is in charge of the administrative duties. She takes care of the daily paperwork and any situations that arise with money. She also does some on-field coaching.

There are difficulties with the positions, however. For most of the players they are now coaching, they were teammates just a year ago.

Along with that, they are still the same age as many of the players.

"Two of my best friends are on the team," Fern said. "And in confrontational issues, the players think you're joking. They don't see me as coach. They see me as Carol."

But the team, on the whole, has taken well to Olszewski and Fern as coaches.

"The girls are the best," Fern said. "They make you feel like you're part of the team. They want you there at their practices, they want you at their games, they want you in their huddles, at our praying times, at our devotions.

"I'm still part of the team."

The job also has given Olszewski and Fern a new understanding of what it takes to be a head coach and the number of hours that it takes.

"You have to be a special type of person to deal with 20 women on a daily basis," Olszewski said. "I respect Coach Sproul so much."

"I honestly thought his job entailed coaching from 3:30 to 5:30 then he goes home to his family and the day before the game he gives a little pep talk," Fern said.

"I didn't understand why he spent hours in his office. I understand that it's a lot more than that. Because we're so far from our families, he is like our dad and steps in and takes on that role."

The women's soccer team will compete in the NCCAA National Championships Friday, Saturday and Monday in Kissimmee, Fla.