MISL Feature
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
As a youngster, Kevin Ten Eyck would attend Wichita Wings games with his family. They had season tickets, and the young Ten Eyck would run out onto the field with the players before the game began, taking in the energy of the building.
During the 2011-12 MISL season, the now 25-year-old Ten Eyck was one of the players who helped usher in a new era in Wings history. He ended the season with 44 points, good for third on the team, recorded at least a goal or an assist in nine of his side’s final 12 games of the season, and earned a nomination for the league’s Rookie of the Year award. Getting to be part of the club’s return, and becoming part of the Wings’ tradition, have been special.
“It’s just been a dream come true so far,” he said by phone. “Our fan support is phenomenal; I have to say we have some of the best fans in the MISL supporting us, and we sold out four of our 12 home games last year, and as first-year team, that’s huge.”
With a young team, which had a large number of rookies in addition to Ten Eyck, the support proved invaluable as the team learned and grew together. It took about half the season for the side to really hit its stride, and even then injuries forced the Wings to shuffle players around to fill the gaps. By trade a defender, Ten Eyck’s large frame became deployed at the other end of the field, resulting in his scoring outburst in the second half of the season.
“It definitely took me, I’d honestly say, half the season to fully understand the complete package,” Ten Eyck said. “The different type of running, taking two minute shifts and then you’re coming off, trying to catch your breath, the different tactics of whether you wanted to play it into the corner, find the target, find a center midfielder. I’d say it’s almost 100 percent different to outdoor soccer, it’s really more fast and your vision and quickness on the ball really have to be top notch or you’re going to get the ball taken from you. If you lose the ball, two seconds later the ball will be down your end and they’ll have taken a shot on goal or even scored.”
Those moments where teams were able to capitalize on mistakes cost the Wings dearly. While finishing with a record of 8-16 in their return, 10 of their defeats were by three points or fewer. That means exciting action for the fans in the seats, but sometimes a disappointing end result, something Ten Eyck is eager to change when the new season comes around.
“One bounce here, a slide-tackle here, a blocked shot here, any of those mistakes are reversed, maybe we’re in the playoffs, maybe we’re one of the best teams in the league,” Ten Eyck said. “I think that’s one of the biggest things we’re going to have to work on this year, making sure we don’t make those mistakes, those bad passes, not staying with your runner, anything like that, and I think if we reverse those, we can definitely be a top team, even contend for the title.”
One of those defeats, though, brought one of Ten Eyck’s favorite moments from the season when he scored 10 points against the Rochester Lancers.
“It was definitely a great accomplishment,” he said. “Obviously, when I get into the game I want to help my team in any way possible, whether it’s scoring goals, assists, blocking shots, whatever has to be done to try and win the game I’m going to try and do for my team, but I can’t even explain it, it just kinda happened. I happened to get a lucky bounce here, a lucky bounce there. It was also pretty funny, one of the fans had a sign that said ‘we’re not in Kansas anymore’, and obviously me being from Kansas that kinda fueled the fire a little bit and I had to rile them up a little bit when I scored a couple of those goals.”
Performances like that, and those he put in against his division rivals also led to a big opportunity this summer as Ten Eyck was called into the U.S. Futsal squad for CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying. Ten Eyck said getting the chance to learn more about the indoor game, and to know some of the players he had gone up against in the previous season, was a great experience.
“It was pretty awesome,” he said. “A lot of the guys I didn’t really know, and of course when you play against other teams you don’t really get to become friends with them because on the field they’re your enemy. But hanging around with these guys for weeks at a time, I made some good friends on some of the other teams that I never would have if I hadn’t had the invitation to camp.”
Now, though, Ten Eyck’s focus is on the second season for the Wings under Coach LeBaron Hollimon, and with camp a little more than two months away, the anticipation for the new MISL season is already starting to build.
“… I’m so ready to get started, I’m champing at the bit,” Ten Eyck said. “I can’t wait until October 15 comes and we start our preseason training with the actual team, and then the actual games in the beginning of November. I’m definitely ready for it to be here.”