Crown Point soccer success is splitting up families for semistate support

CROWN POINT | Laura Small has a plan. Sort of. Well, maybe.

"I think I do," Small said with a big smile.

She has a problem. It's a good kind of problem, though.

Smith's daughter, Abi, will lead her Crown Point Bulldogs into today's Class 2A semistate in Fort Wayne. The problem is her son, Garret, is on C.P.'s boys soccer team.

The fellas will be playing in the Class 2A Warsaw Semistate today.

"We know we're getting up early," Laura said. "And we know we're going to Warsaw first. We'll have to see where it goes from there."

This is the first time in school history that both soccer teams have made it to semistate in the same year. This time-travel issue, though, is not hitting the Smalls alone.

Dave and Shari Kurtz will have the same decision. Kammi Kurtz is a freshman on the girls team and her brother, Bay, is a sophomore on the boys team.

"Both programs are like a big family," Abi Small said.

There are actually two other siblings in the Bulldogs' program. Cody Williams is a senior on the boys team and little sister Kelly is in the girls program, but not on the playoff roster.

Also, Payton Darnstaedt is a junior on the boys team and freshman sister Brooklyn is also in the program but not on the playoff roster.

"It's great fun for the entire community," C.P. boys coach JR Rosenbaum said. "It's exciting for the boys and girls to go through this together."

After the Bulldogs boys won their regional at Merrillville, the bus returned home and every player jumped in a car and high-tailed it to Highland to watch the girls win their regional crown.

"It was great when they all came to our game," Kammi Kurtz said. "We all celebrated together on the field."

"Both teams had good reason to believe something like this could've happened," Bay Kurtz added.

All the soccer siblings have enjoyed how their success has raised the focus on both soccer programs. Instead of sometimes being overlooked, more students are congratulating them in class and in the hallways.

Garret Small was very forgiving about the fact that his parents will likely leave his game to get to Abi's. The freshman showed great maturity in a tough situation.

"This is her last year," Garret said. "I have three more years."

Both teams have to win two games today in order to advance to the state championships. The odds look long and tough. But few expected Crown Point to get two teams to semistate anyway.

Abi Small smiled when she looked at what would happen of the Bulldogs earned two semistate championships today.

"They play the boys and girls state championships at the same place," she said. "So next week it wouldn't be a problem."