Holland Christian's Conner Smits, Henry Steenwyk commit to first Calvin football class
HOLLAND - The Calvin University football team will begin its first season in the fall and at least two Holland-area players will be part of the historic first Knights team.
Holland Christian's Conner Smits and Henry Steenwyk committed to play at Calvin this week.
"The coaching staff was awesome and are so excited for the once in a lifetime opportunity to start a new college football program," Smits said. "This excitement from them started to get me excited about the vision for Calvin football. Calvin has always stood out to me for their academics and their location but it was not really an option because they did not have a football team. As soon as they introduced a football team it became clear that it would be my new home."
Steenwyk felt similar.
"I chose Calvin because the coaches made me feel welcome and helped me greatly with envisioning my future there," he said. "I also saw the passion in the coaches and even the staff that helped me with my visits. My biggest goal for college academics and sports is to complete my first year but after that, it is to win football and volleyball games, even though Calvin football will be a new program I hope that label doesn't restrict us."
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He is also joining the men's volleyball team.
"I also am excited to join the volleyball program and help develop that with whatever the coach asks of me. The opportunity of starting a college football program and being a part of it is a rare one, but more importantly a significant one," Steenwyk said. "Setting the standard and setting the culture there is something I am familiar with, my Junior year of varsity football was not the greatest, not just the record at the end of the season but the culture. Senior year we chose as senior leaders to reset, rename and redo the culture and the standard of the Holland Christian football program. So having that experience I believe that I can help set the standard and culture at Calvin in the future. Same goes with volleyball about maintaining a standard and a culture.
Smits is looking to make an immediate impact with the young team.
"I hope to set the tone for the teams in the MIAA and show what Calvin Football is all about. This first year we are going to grow a lot as a team from getting to know each other to getting stronger in the weight room," he said. "We are all looking forward to the first game against Hope in 2024 but there is a ton of work to do before that."
It is not lost on either player how unique this opportunity will be.
"This opportunity means a lot to me. First I want to thank God for giving me the abilities to play the sport that I love. I want to thank my coaches, teammates and my family for getting me to the collegiate level and for all the sacrifices they made for me," Smits said. "The opportunities at other schools were just not the same and I hope to leave a legacy for many years to come."
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland Christian's Conner Smits, Henry Steenwyk commit to first Calvin football class
