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Emily tried out for a spot with a club team out
of Grand Rapids called FarOut Volleyball Club.
It would mean breaking away from her Blue Power
teammates to play with complete strangers.
Emily was confident in her ability and was
excited about the possibilities that FarOut
might provide for her. After the tryout, Emily
said that she thought she had done a great job
and thought she had done well enough to make the
Regional team but was really hoping to make the
16's National team. Then the call came...She
was cool and collected on the phone as she
talked with the club director. She hung up and
we were hanging on her every word. She said, "ya
know how I told you that I did good enough to
make the Regional team? Well, I made the
National team!!" and she just started crying.
We (Jeff, Selena and Sar) all ran into the
kitchen to hug on her and we were crying too
because we knew how very much it meant
 to her.
It's such a great memory for us! Immediately
she said, "there's two phone calls I need to
make". One would be to the Rowland's and the
other would be Denny Frost. The Rowland's were
the reason she had become the player that she
had and taught her the skills, determination and
work ethic and she loved them dearly. Denny
Frost did alot for her emotionally, talking to
her constantly about confidence and helping her
deal with the adversities of playing with older
players and the pitfall of being a coach’s
child. Denny would instruct her athletically,
but it was the emotional part that he really
helped her with. (Denny is father to Ashley who
Em ballgirled for in Em's younger years and the
entire Frost family was always so good to Em.)
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The first practice would come and Em felt an
immediate connection with her team. It
would be the first time Em would play with
her own age during the off season.
They would have the same desire to play at
the college level and volleyball was their
sport. Jeff (Em's dad) would drive her 40
miles one way, 3 days a week for practice
and her family would go to tournaments on
weekends. There were sacrifices and
tears as Em would miss seeing Sarah as she
went to her Senior prom and would miss
Adam's (the brother in her heart) open
house. But she was doing what she
loved and we continued to support each other
because she was living her dream. Em
immediately loved her teammates and they had
much in common. They had the same
passion for
 volleyball and they also had a love for Christ.
They would pray
together, had team buddies for each week where
they would encourage each other, and they had
Isaiah 40:31
as their motto. They won their
Regional bid and would travel to Salt Lake City,
Utah for the Jr. Olympics. The team and their
families would stay at Park City and see all the
sights of the Olympic village and continue
bonding and becoming very good friends. It was
a very blessed time!
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After the Jr. Olympics, Em and her
FarOut teammates would continue their
friendship. They had each other on
speed dial and would continue their get togethers. Several of them went to
the B-93  birthday bash together. Then, in
October, the accident occurred. During that
time, her teammates and their families were very
supportive and came to the hospital to see Emily as
often as they could. When Em passed away, the
team and parents were as devastated as those
that we had known a life time. The time with
our FarOut families had bonded us in ways that
were imaginable to most, but that's what happens
when you have the common denominator of Christ
in your relationships. At the funeral, the
FarOut team was a class act. They came in
uniform and wore the hair ribbons that Em had
given them in Utah. As a team they prayed and
gave pink roses to Em at the cemetery. The
entire team would also be present at Lakewood
High School when they retired Emily's #5
jersey. They would also retire #15 from FarOut
and design a new logo which referenced Emily.
(On all uniforms the new logo has "Em" in a
heart between the word Far and Out.)
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The spring after Em's accident, the girls that
played for East Kentwood would find themselves
playing for a State championship. There
were signs in the arena and outside that said
"Just Du-its". Em's
 FarOut teammates would be
successful winning a Class A state championship.
Emily's mom was there in Emily's place wearing
Em's Lakewood jersey and Em's bracelet that she
had gotten in Utah that said "playstrong" on
it. ***Em was honored that night and will be
forever and always remEMbered. Em loved her
FarOut teammates, each and everyone, and would
be "pumped" for their successes not only in
volleyball but for their happiness in life.
***An official from the MHSAA contacted the
Duits family and asked if they could use
something of Emily's to reference her and her
spirit at the State Championships. The family
gave one of Emily's medals to them to flip for
the toss of the Class C match....see
"Sportsmanship" section.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Photos and
Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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"I say volleyball is the
greatest game,
but it's not. The greatest game is called opportunity.
Volleyball is merely a great expression of it." |
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"Success is an honest
endeavor and
a persistent effort to do the best possible
under any and all circumstances." |
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"You find that you have peace of
mind and can enjoy yourself and
get more rest when you know
that is was a 100% effort that
you gave ... win or lose." |
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"Decide carefully exactly
what you want, then
work like mad to make
sure you get it." |
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"Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire,
sincerely believe
and enthusiastically act upon ...
must inevitably come to pass." |
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