By Jacqueline Zuniga

For Humboldt’s men’s soccer alumni, watching the current team brings back memories of muddy fields, long road trips and friendships that have lasted decades post-graduation. 

David Hurley was part of Humboldt’s first recruiting class in 1974. During his time, players practiced on patchy fields, played on a small baseball diamond and traveled in personal cars or a 12-seater van. On away games, they sometimes stayed in people’s homes or slept on gym floors to save money. 

“We had some really tough conditions,” Hurley said. “We really pretty much bonded with each other around it.”

Today, the program has a turf field, locker rooms, quality uniforms, assistant coaches and hotel accommodations. Hurley said alumni are proud to see those changes. 

“We’re just really happy that that’s occurred. It makes us feel fulfilled, you know, ’cause we were the foundation of that,” Hurley said.

But better facilities have not made the competition easier — Humboldt still competes against schools with larger recruiting pools in large cities. It’s a struggle to get players out to Humboldt.

Mark Wheatley, who played from 1977 to 1981, has watched the program’s skill level and facilities develop. He said the skill level of soccer has grown across the board. Noting that players have spent years honing their game. 

“You can tell these are guys that have been doing nothing but soccer their whole lives,” Wheatley said.

Though some people think Humboldt’s team doesn’t have the best record, Chuck Huntington sees it differently.

“A lot of folks focus on, you know, what the record is, but it’s really not about that. It’s about the different things that you accomplish as a team, whether or not it’s a lot of wins or a few wins or whatever,” Huntington said.

For Huntington, the connections created through the program when he first got here were what helped him adjust to being away from home for the first time. 

“You get a lot more out of the sport than just winning games,” Huntington said.

That sense of connection continues through the Bob Kelly Award, named after the first men’s soccer coach, created by alumni to recognize a player for academics, character and commitment to the program. “[we wanted the award] to sort of connect the alumni a little more strongly with the current players, and then to acknowledge sort of the program’s history, that emphasized a lot more than just wins and losses.” Huntington said, “team spirit, grit, academics, Bob Kelly, who was our coach… emphasized the academics a lot more than he emphasized the soccer”

 Lyle Wilks knows what it means to be a player and athlete. He played at Humboldt in the late 70s before returning to the program years later as an assistant coach, where he spent 28 years around generations of players and won Humboldt’s only championship in 1994.

For the alumni, the program’s ultimate success is measured beyond the field.

“We still get together…,” Hurley said. “There’s a bond that exists between guys who put this uniform on.”

Jacqueline is the super duper cool sports editor, social media manager for LJ and news manager for KRFH.