GRAND RAPIDS – Luke Bushouse couldn’t stop smiling as he walked through the Calvin University football team’s new locker room.
The Holland Christian High School freshman found a brand new helmet and a jersey with the number 66 hanging in his locker.
“I got the number 66 that I wore in high school, so this is exciting for me,” Bushouse said. “It was just crazy to see (the new facility). It makes this season feel more real. It’s a blessing to be here.”
Calvin will begin its first football season in school history this fall, and on Tuesday afternoon, the entire roster of 112 players was able to tour the program’s new football facility.
“The players … reported in this morning,” Calvin coach Trent Figg said. “This is their first look at the locker room. They’ve never seen this room before. Some of these guys don’t know their jersey number. I’m so excited for them to see it. I’m even more excited for Thursday. We’re taking the field Thursday morning (for our first practice). Today is 25 days until kickoff.”
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Calvin will host its season opener on Saturday, September 7th at 1 p.m.
There are eight players from the Holland area on the Calvin roster.
Henry Steenwyk, a redshirt freshman from Holland Christian, was excited about the new building.
“It’s incredible how far this building has come in just 18 months,” he said. “Being on campus and seeing it slowly being built and finally seeing it today … it’s incredible. We’re blessed to have such a beautiful facility for a freshman program. We hope to fill it with lots of memories and hopefully a few wins this season.”
Gabe Amid, a freshman from Zeeland East, was so excited that he put on his number 25 jersey.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” Amid said. “When I first walked in there, it was like a little piece of heaven. I was excited to put on his jersey.”
Amid, who is 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, played linebacker, tight end and long snapper at Zeeland East. He said he already knows what position he will play at Calvin.
“I’ll be playing Mike (Middle) linebacker,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being in the trenches, covering the pass … doing everything that needs to be done as a linebacker here at Calvin.”
Where will Calvin play?
The Knights will not have a real home game for over a year.
They will play all four of their scheduled home games at Grand Rapids Christian High School.
Calvin has not yet broken ground on its new football stadium.
“Right now, the plan is to not play here for a year,” Figg said. “Those projects are underway. We’re really excited to play football. We practice here on campus and we live here on campus. So we want to be on campus (to play home games) as soon as possible. But we also know what the construction timelines are.”
Beginning of a new rivalry
Trigg has not yet played a game against rival Hope College, but is well aware of the rivalry.
“Coach Stuursma … he’s been a great ally when I started this program,” he said of Hope College coach Peter Stuursma. “But the rivalry is real. Calvin is really excited about it, and our players are really excited about it. (The Hope-Calvin game) sold out within two and a half hours when tickets went on sale. So people are excited about it.”
Calvin will host the first meeting between the two schools on Saturday, November 9th at 1 p.m.
Holland Christian well represented
Five of the eight Holland-area natives on the roster are graduates of Holland Christian University, which is reassuring for Bushhouse in his first year at Calvin.
“It’s really nice to have some friends there,” said Bushouse. “I have a cousin on the team and a couple of buddies on the team. It helps to approach something so new with a few people you know.”
The local players are: redshirt freshman Conner Smits (Holland Christian), freshman Luke Michmerhuizen (Holland Christian), senior Evan Karsten (Holland Christian), Amid (Zeeland East), freshman Sieger Huizenga (Holland Christian), junior Peter DeKruyter (Zeeland West), Bushouse (Holland Christian) and Steenwyk (Holland Christian).
“I’m overjoyed to be part of such a story,” said Steenwyk. “We only have one chance at a first season and I want to make the most of it.”
