Bella Vista Soccer Players Sign with Stanislaus on National Signing Day

On National Signing Day, thousands of high school athletes pick the schools they desire to play for and sign letters of intent to the college they chose. At Bella Vista High School, seniors Chelsea Lewandowski and Madeline Easterbrook signed letters of intent to play soccer at California State University Stanislaus.

Lewandowski, the starting goalkeeper for Bella Vista's girl's varsity soccer team, had 46 saves and seven shut-out games last season. Easterbrook, a center defender, had a goal, four assists and six points for the varsity team last season as well.

The location of Stanislaus State was convenient for both girls and both of them also liked the campus environment.

“It’s close to home, it’s a good school, really pretty, even though it’s small, it’s really nice,” Lewandowski said. “It’s far enough from home, close enough to come back, they have a good soccer program, nice stadium, it just all worked out.”

Although both players did receive scholarships, Easterbrook said that her new coach at Stanislaus State, Gabe Bolten, convinced her of the financial and educational benefits that the school has to offer.

“Gabe said that it’s like a private school feel with a public school cost,” Easterbrook said. “It’s a nice cost and in these times right now it’s easier for us to go to, and we also get some help.”

John Easterbrook, Madeline’s father, said that it was more than the scholarships both players received, but it was the type of educational environment that he really admired about Stanislaus State.

“Both girls are getting academic scholarships and it helps out a little bit but more importantly, they’re getting a great education. That’s our primary concern,” John said.

Both parents of Lewandowski and Easterbrook were open to letting their daughters choose the school they wanted to attend and were supportive of their decision to play for Stanislaus State.

“My parents told me ‘It’s your decision, do what you want, pick what school you want to go to and we’ll support you whatever you do.’ So when I told them I want to go to Stanislaus, they were just as happy,” Lewandowski said.

John was impressed with the level of soccer the players will be participating in going into Stanislaus State.

“They’re going to a Division II school and they’ll be starters, as freshman. Very few girls have that opportunity,” John said.

The process of the players signing to Stanislaus State was an easy one for both families since the school approached the players early.

“They were recruited back in August, so they didn’t have to go through writing essays or any applications," John said. "They were both picked up very early.”

“They put a lot of time and effort into this and it’s paying off now.”

Both parents are looking forward to what Stanislaus State has to offer their daughters especially from an educational standpoint.

“Both girls are very good students, so I think they would just continue on being good students,” John said. “I’m not sure if either of them have a career path chosen yet, but this is a really good place to find it.”

Madeline’s mother Carola said her daughter was thinking about a career in business and felt that Stanislaus State was a perfect fit for her to pursue those goals.

“Madeline is leaning towards business right now, because it opens doors to a lot of different opportunities,” Carola said. “She likes advertising, she’s very creative and she wanted to do something in that realm since management is what she’s shooting at right now for her major and they do have a great program for that.”

Easterbrook considered other schools previously, but other factors prevented her from attending those schools.

“Madeline had looked at a couple schools in the bay area that she was interested in,” Carola said. “There was a coach over in Boston who contacted her after watching her play, but that was too far. Menlo is a business college over in the bay area and the coach liked her there, but they recently switched (coaches) and we weren’t sure about the situation there with the new coach.”

“Since Stanislaus is a smaller campus, I think this is a better feel for her.”

Chelsea’s mother Mary liked the fact that both players will start on Stanislaus’ team as freshman.

“They will have an opportunity to play," Mary said. "They don’t have to sit on the bench for two years.”

Easterbrook continued to express her excitement over signing with Stanislaus State but also acknowledged that it will be tough leaving home.

“I’m just really excited, but I’m kind of sad because I’m the first kid going away, so there’s going to be some tears.”

Both parents said as excited as they are now, they would soon miss having their daughters around and miss watching them play routinely.

“It will be weird not getting up on the weekends and going to watch soccer,” Mary said.

“We’ll tell you next fall how we feel,” John said with a laugh. “It feels great right now but I know later on it will be emotional.”

One thing that everyone was happy about is the fact that both players are going to play for the same school and have each other to rely on both on and off the field.

“They’ll be roommates and they’ll have two other roommates who they don’t know about, but it will be exciting for them," Carola said. "They’ll be comfortable.”

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