Bamber in the middle of good times for Chesterton girls soccer




Grace Bamber

Grace Bamber

Defender Adie Schneider kicked the ball to a teammate near the left sideline at the Maroon & Gold girls soccer scrimmage and coach Ben Forgey let her know right away that the smarter play was in the middle of the field.

“When Grace presents herself in the middle, get her the ball so we can build from the back,” Forgey instructed.

That’s precisely what Schneider did the next time the ball came to her and sure enough it resulted in a scoring opportunity, although not in a goal that instance.

Good things tend to happen when center midfielder Grace Bamber has the ball. “She’s not one-dimensional where she can only score or she can only help others score,” Forgey said of Bamber. “She can do both. She’s very good. She’s going to tear people up this year.”

That’s why Forgey wants Bamber in the middle of the action, figuratively and literally.

“Being in the middle of the field you touch the ball most, you can have the most influence on the game,” Forgey said. “Grace is obviously a dynamic player, a strong, determined player, so playing right at the top of our shape in the center midfield makes perfect sense for her.”

Not to mention for the girls who flank her.

Bamber scored three goals and assisted on two others in the Trojans’ 9-0 season-opening rout at LaPorte. The game was shortened by 20 minutes because of the mercy rule, still long enough for sophomore Tewabech Seerup to score four goals.

Seerup was injured for most of her freshman season and when healthy played for the junior varsity, so Bamber knew her mostly as an opponent in club soccer until this season.

“Freshman year, I had heard about her and then she got hurt so I never really got to see Tia play,” Bamber said of Seerup. “This year, I’m really surprised because I knew she was good, but I didn’t think she was this good. She’s amazing. She’s so fast, she’s so fast on the ball, she’s really technical, she knows when to shoot, how to shoot, places it in the goals. She can get in on anyone, take it from anyone. She’s really good.”

In club soccer, Seerup plays for Indiana Fire, Bamber for FC Pride. They played against each other twice this past season. The Pride won one match, tied the other. The more time they log together in practice and games, the greater their chemistry will grow. Perhaps one day it could rival the level of on-field telepathy between Bamber and Gina Geenen, who scored two goals at LaPorte.

“I’ve played with Geena my whole life. We’ve been best friends since we were 8. We grew up playing together,” Bamber said. “She’s my best friend. I love playing with her. She’s so good on the ball, shoots really hard. She’s really good, really fast. We have two really good players out wide: Tia and Geena.”

Bamber described how her long history with Gennen helps on the field.

“I swear I know when she wants it and where she wants it, and she knows I’m going to play her that ball,” Geenen said. “We have that connection. That’s my favorite thing, setting my teammates up, playing through balls. That’s my goal. That’s what I try to do at center attacking mid.”

Plenty of soccer players who have played the game with a close friend for a lifetime aren’t as skilled at delivering the ball on target, on time as regularly as Bamber. She doesn’t limit her custom deliveries to her best friend.

“That’s an advanced level of soccer IQ. That’s hard to teach. That comes from experience. That comes from just feeling it and doing it and thinking of others,” Forgey said. “It’s very easy to kick a soccer ball in your teammate’s direction. It’s very hard to put it with the right pace and weight of pass so that your teammate can run onto it without breaking stride and put them in a great position to score. That’s hard. It’s hard playing it to their correct foot.”

It can take great scorers in any sport a while to trust teammates enough to give up the ball. Yet, that seems to come naturally to Bamber.

“It’s hard thinking of others, but if the other stuff comes easy, if you can bring a ball down out of the air, if you’re strong enough to hold off defenders, then you can start to think about that other stuff,” Forgey said. “Grace can do that. It takes a lot to be able to do that.”

As evidenced from how easily the team won its first game, elite high school teams don’t face quality competition as consistently as in club soccer, but becoming a better player is only one aspect of why Bamber and her talented teammates play the sport.

“I love high school season,” Bamber said. “It’s always fun. I love playing with my friends and my teammates. It’s so fun. The rivalries, I love it.”

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