SE: I’ll Always Have Their Back – The Story Behind K-State Soccer’s “GK Union”
Sep 18, 2020 | Soccer, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
As K-State headed to the locker room at halftime of their season-opening match on Saturday, one person headed in the opposite direction.
Rachel Harris made the short walk from the home bench at Buser Family Park to the goal, where freshman Alaina Werremeyer was 45 minutes into the first match of her college career.
"To start as a freshman in goal is a very hard thing to do," Harris said. "It was just helpful for me to go out there and make sure she had somebody to talk to."
In a team jacket with the hood pulled up, Harris looked like she might be a player, a coach or a member of the K-State Soccer support staff. For the Wildcats, she's been all three this season.
"Anyone on this team will tell you that Rachel is a leader," Werremeyer said. "Even being injured, she's still at every practice reassuring, encouraging and coaching where she can. She's a great mentor for everyone."
Harris won't play a match for K-State in 2020, but the junior will play an important role every time the Wildcats take the field.
"It's hard watching practice and I'm bummed that I'm going to be out for the season, but I'm still a big part of this team. I have a voice," Harris said. "Seeing things from a different angle on the sidelines, breaking down film and being able to coach the goalkeepers, I did so much when I could practice every day, but I think being another coach out there is also very important."
The Wildcats are one game into the season and their fifth year of existence has already been unlike any other in the brief history of the team.
K-State practiced and scrimmaged for almost two months when the start of the season was delayed, postponed their original season opener against Texas Tech and then announced a new one 24 hours before they faced Oklahoma State on Saturday night.
Last month, the Wildcats lost Harris for the season due to injury, meaning the team would enter 2020 with two freshmen goalkeepers – Werremeyer and Peyton Pearson – and one redshirt freshman, Cameron Illingworth.
Suddenly, goalkeeper seemed like another question mark for K-State. Just not to Harris.
"I told our team, 'You're going to have a freshman in goal, regardless of what happens.' None of them have experience," Harris said. "You look at Alaina, she has the most Big 12 experience of anyone on the team, and she's played one game."
So, take a redshirt junior in Harris with 27 games on her resume and a season-ending injury. Add in three freshmen who have now played one game of college soccer between them.
You end up with K-State Soccer's most unconventional family and a group that could have a bigger impact than anyone on the team's success in 2020.
"We call ourselves the GK Union," Pearson said. "No matter who's starting, with only one goalkeeper on the field, we're always supporting each other."
Pearson arrived at K-State during a season when COVID-19 changed everything for K-State Soccer, but she has been able to lean on the team's other goalkeepers to help her adjust.
From the everyday grind of 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. workouts to VX monitors that track their heart rate and fitness, freshman year challenges players at every position.
Harris said that keepers can face their own hurdles when they step into a D1 program.
She called the goalkeeper "the quarterback of the team," with the ability to see the field and make sure players across the pitch know where to be throughout a match.
That means the K-State freshmen in goal will need to get comfortable yelling at players four or five years older than them as they organize the back line during a match.
"I think it's a little adjustment, but it's not anything that takes more than one day," Pearson said. "It's nothing personal. You're yelling at them because you're giving them direction that's going to help them. They might get split because they weren't marking, then it's their fault and could create a counter, or you could just say a couple of words to them."
For goalkeepers stepping into a program like K-State, building that confidence and sense of belonging can be challenge. That's where the GK Union comes in.
"We're closer than we've ever been because Rachel took the initiative to make sure we all go out to get coffee together or just hang out," Illingworth said. "Coming out here every day and playing together has given us that sense of normalcy."
It's a focus on family that defines so many of the athletic programs at K-State. Family is also a big reason why Harris, Illingworth, Werremeyer and Pearson are here in the first place.
"I love the coaches, the atmosphere here and the family environment," Werremeyer said. "I visited a lot of schools where it wasn't like that. K-State wants to play pretty soccer and I want to play pretty soccer. But they were also here to take care of their players, and I felt that from the beginning."
Illingworth joined K-State in 2019 and redshirted her freshman season.
After the team's spring matches were canceled due to COVID-19, Illingworth went home to California for a quick visit before returning to Manhattan and training throughout the summer.
"I just wanted to stay on top of everything so I wouldn't fall behind," she said. "We've been working non-stop these past few months."
That work will finally pay off with a nine-game conference schedule this fall, that will test the Wildcats and their freshmen keepers against some of the best teams in the country.
The abbreviated season will also mean that whoever steps in at goalkeeper for K-State will have to be comfortable emerging as a leader right away.
"We all have earned the right to be here," Werremeyer said. "Being vocal is just another way to prove that you're here to command the game just as much as the juniors or the seniors."
Harris was in that same position in 2017. She stepped into net for Arkansas as the only freshman keeper in the SEC before transferring to Kansas State ahead of her redshirt sophomore season.
Harris said that gaining the respect and trust of her teammates as a freshman took time.
"When you're on the field, you know so much about your teammate's tendencies and what they do, but you don't know much about their personal lives. So, I just want to encourage them to get to know their teammates on a deeper level," she said. "I made it clear on the first day that we were going to be a family, on the field and off the field."
On Thursday, K-State Soccer made the important role Harris will play this season official, announcing something that wasn't exactly a secret around Buser Family Park:
Along with senior Brookelynn Entz, Harris will captain the Wildcats in 2020.
"I was in their shoes at one point and it's important to know that you have somebody," Harris said. "I'll always have their back no matter what happens or what the score is."
As K-State headed to the locker room at halftime of their season-opening match on Saturday, one person headed in the opposite direction.
Rachel Harris made the short walk from the home bench at Buser Family Park to the goal, where freshman Alaina Werremeyer was 45 minutes into the first match of her college career.
"To start as a freshman in goal is a very hard thing to do," Harris said. "It was just helpful for me to go out there and make sure she had somebody to talk to."
In a team jacket with the hood pulled up, Harris looked like she might be a player, a coach or a member of the K-State Soccer support staff. For the Wildcats, she's been all three this season.
"Anyone on this team will tell you that Rachel is a leader," Werremeyer said. "Even being injured, she's still at every practice reassuring, encouraging and coaching where she can. She's a great mentor for everyone."
Harris won't play a match for K-State in 2020, but the junior will play an important role every time the Wildcats take the field.
"It's hard watching practice and I'm bummed that I'm going to be out for the season, but I'm still a big part of this team. I have a voice," Harris said. "Seeing things from a different angle on the sidelines, breaking down film and being able to coach the goalkeepers, I did so much when I could practice every day, but I think being another coach out there is also very important."
The Wildcats are one game into the season and their fifth year of existence has already been unlike any other in the brief history of the team.
K-State practiced and scrimmaged for almost two months when the start of the season was delayed, postponed their original season opener against Texas Tech and then announced a new one 24 hours before they faced Oklahoma State on Saturday night.
Last month, the Wildcats lost Harris for the season due to injury, meaning the team would enter 2020 with two freshmen goalkeepers – Werremeyer and Peyton Pearson – and one redshirt freshman, Cameron Illingworth.
Suddenly, goalkeeper seemed like another question mark for K-State. Just not to Harris.
"I told our team, 'You're going to have a freshman in goal, regardless of what happens.' None of them have experience," Harris said. "You look at Alaina, she has the most Big 12 experience of anyone on the team, and she's played one game."
So, take a redshirt junior in Harris with 27 games on her resume and a season-ending injury. Add in three freshmen who have now played one game of college soccer between them.
You end up with K-State Soccer's most unconventional family and a group that could have a bigger impact than anyone on the team's success in 2020.
"We call ourselves the GK Union," Pearson said. "No matter who's starting, with only one goalkeeper on the field, we're always supporting each other."
Pearson arrived at K-State during a season when COVID-19 changed everything for K-State Soccer, but she has been able to lean on the team's other goalkeepers to help her adjust.
From the everyday grind of 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. workouts to VX monitors that track their heart rate and fitness, freshman year challenges players at every position.
Harris said that keepers can face their own hurdles when they step into a D1 program.
GKunion @camiillingworth @ emma @KSUCoachRomo @KStateSOC #OnTheRise2020 pic.twitter.com/YLatCpETgE
— Rach (@_harrisrachel) February 24, 2020
She called the goalkeeper "the quarterback of the team," with the ability to see the field and make sure players across the pitch know where to be throughout a match.
That means the K-State freshmen in goal will need to get comfortable yelling at players four or five years older than them as they organize the back line during a match.
"I think it's a little adjustment, but it's not anything that takes more than one day," Pearson said. "It's nothing personal. You're yelling at them because you're giving them direction that's going to help them. They might get split because they weren't marking, then it's their fault and could create a counter, or you could just say a couple of words to them."
For goalkeepers stepping into a program like K-State, building that confidence and sense of belonging can be challenge. That's where the GK Union comes in.
"We're closer than we've ever been because Rachel took the initiative to make sure we all go out to get coffee together or just hang out," Illingworth said. "Coming out here every day and playing together has given us that sense of normalcy."
It's a focus on family that defines so many of the athletic programs at K-State. Family is also a big reason why Harris, Illingworth, Werremeyer and Pearson are here in the first place.
"I love the coaches, the atmosphere here and the family environment," Werremeyer said. "I visited a lot of schools where it wasn't like that. K-State wants to play pretty soccer and I want to play pretty soccer. But they were also here to take care of their players, and I felt that from the beginning."
Illingworth joined K-State in 2019 and redshirted her freshman season.
After the team's spring matches were canceled due to COVID-19, Illingworth went home to California for a quick visit before returning to Manhattan and training throughout the summer.
"I just wanted to stay on top of everything so I wouldn't fall behind," she said. "We've been working non-stop these past few months."
That work will finally pay off with a nine-game conference schedule this fall, that will test the Wildcats and their freshmen keepers against some of the best teams in the country.
The abbreviated season will also mean that whoever steps in at goalkeeper for K-State will have to be comfortable emerging as a leader right away.
"We all have earned the right to be here," Werremeyer said. "Being vocal is just another way to prove that you're here to command the game just as much as the juniors or the seniors."
Harris was in that same position in 2017. She stepped into net for Arkansas as the only freshman keeper in the SEC before transferring to Kansas State ahead of her redshirt sophomore season.
Harris said that gaining the respect and trust of her teammates as a freshman took time.
"When you're on the field, you know so much about your teammate's tendencies and what they do, but you don't know much about their personal lives. So, I just want to encourage them to get to know their teammates on a deeper level," she said. "I made it clear on the first day that we were going to be a family, on the field and off the field."
On Thursday, K-State Soccer made the important role Harris will play this season official, announcing something that wasn't exactly a secret around Buser Family Park:
Along with senior Brookelynn Entz, Harris will captain the Wildcats in 2020.
Two experienced leaders.@b_entz8 and @_harrisrachel are your 2020 team captains. 😺⚽️#KStateSOC x #OnTheRise2020 pic.twitter.com/2TZrkk5s1j
— K-State Soccer (@KStateSOC) September 17, 2020
"I was in their shoes at one point and it's important to know that you have somebody," Harris said. "I'll always have their back no matter what happens or what the score is."
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