HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER: Nationally renowned Hudsonville Unity Christian continues to thrive under coach Randy Heethuis
- Dan Stickradt
- Jun 13
- 8 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER: Nationally renowned Hudsonville Unity Christian continues to thrive under coach Randy Heethuis
HUDSONVILLE, Mich. – Randy Heethuis remembers the very first girls soccer game he coached at Hudsonville Unity Christian.
“It was against Holland and we tied 0-0,” laughed Heethuis, who is now in his 36th season at the helm and is the only head coach in program history.
“I do remember our first win, too,” he added. “We beat Grandville, 2-1, and they were a Class A High School and much bigger than us back then.”
Heethuis didn’t recall his first team’s overall record. That was 1990 when he helped launch the program. But glancing at his entire career, that’s a moot point. Girls soccer wasn’t very big at the time in the Grand Rapids area when Unity started its girls soccer program. The boys soccer program at the school was started way back in the mid-1970s.
“There weren't many teams on this side of the state back then,” recalled Heethuis. “Maybe 6-8 teams. It started to grow back in the 1990s. Some of the better west side teams back then were down in the Kalamazoo area and not Grand Rapids. Schools like Plainwell and (Kalamazoo) Hackett (Catholic). But here around Grand Rapids it really started to take off in the 90s and early 2000s. East Grand Rapids had some good teams and schools like (Grand Rapids) Forest Hills Central started to produce some great teams.”
So did Unity Christian, which is only about 10 miles southwest of downtown Grand Rapids and located in a modern day soccer hotbed where high school programs and youth clubs are thriving in every direction.
Yet, few have enjoyed as much success as Heethuis and his Hudsonville Unity Christian girls soccer program. Entering this weekend, Heetuis has amassed an incredible 643-105-42 heading into this year’s state finals – one of the best in state history. He also coached for more than three decades the boys soccer team at Unity through 2021 before stepping down.
But we’ll get back to the success of the girls program.
NUMBERS DON’T LIE
Although the Crusaders were competitive under Heethuis from the beginning, the titles didn't start to come until the mid-1990s.
The first conference championship in the Ottawa Kent Conference came in 1996 – a proud benchmark at the time. But that was just the beginning.
As the sport continued to grow rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s, the MHSAA Class A and Class B-C-D tournaments expanded into three divisions in the 1990s and then to the four even divisions by the late 1990s.
Under Heethuis, the Crusaders finally broke through in 1998 with the school’s first district title and the same team reached the Division 3 Final Four before losing to Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep (6-1).
“That was humbling because we had come so far but we still had so far to go,” said the coach. “Remember, Hackett was one of the state’s best teams back then. So was (Madison Heights) Bishop Foley.”
Since then, Unity Christian has accomplished more in under 30 years than what most have ever done – and few schools have even come close. The program sits well inside the top 10 in so many categories one might not know where to begin.
The Crusaders finally reached the state finals in 2002, finishing as the Division 3 runner-up to 12-time state champion Madison Heights Bishop Foley (3-0). Over the last 25 seasons, the team has enjoyed 20 Final Four runs and regional titles (21 overall including the 1998 squad), the program has also put together some impressive streaks and numbers.
The first state title came in 2005 in a time when Unity Christian’s roster was stacked.
The program in the mid-2000s, led by four-time All-State Dream Team player and eventual 2007 Miss Soccer Laura Heyboer (2004-2007), began a run of six straight state titles from 2005-2010 – an all-time state record for consecutive state championships in the sport – and the team has been to at least the regional finals (Elite Eight) in 24 of the last 28 seasons, including this season.
The only time the Crusaders did not win a district title in recent memory was 2019 when they lost in the district finals to Allegan (3-2 in a shootout). There was no spring sports season in 2020, so one would have to go back to 1997 for the last time the school did not win at least a district title – the school did not claim any districts in Class B-C-D from 1990-97.
Additionally, the program lost in the regional semifinals in 2000 and the regional finals in 2001, 2013 and 2018.
And, by the way, Unity Christian has played in 14 of the previous 20 state title games and including this year it will be 16 of 22 seasons – 15 times in Division 3 and once in Division 2. The program is making its 17th appearance in the state finals on Friday.
So is 21 Final Four appearances, 24 Elite Eight appearances, 12 state championships and state runners-up trophies impressive enough, not to mention all of the districts and conference championships? As four individuals, all of the future college players and players that earned some postseason honors – All-Conference, All-District, All-Region, All-Area, All-State and even All-America accolades – are in the dozens and even over 100 and too many to count.
“We’ve had some good ones, for sure,” said Heethuis. “We've even had some players go all the way up to become professional soccer players (in the NWSL).”
Unity has currently won 12 state titles, tied with Bishop Foley for the most in Michigan history, while the Crusaders currently have four state runner-up trophies to its legacy. The school will added either a state championship or runner-up to the legacy this weekend – and if they can win another crown that will take over the state record for most in girls soccer.
MAKING ANOTHER RUN
Hudsonville Unity Christian is in the midst of making another run. In fact, the Crusaders – top-ranked in Division 2 all season long – are one win away from a third straight state title.
The Crusaders (21-0-2) also have a chance to post a difficult unbeaten season. The side will play June 13 in the Division 2 state finals in its first year up in that division enrollment-wise, and are set to take on fourth-ranked and first-time finalist New Boston Huron (21-1-1) at 4 p.m. Friday at Michigan State University DeMartin Stadium. Unity’s opponent Huron has outscored its opposition 107-11 this season and has won 21 straight games after starting 0-1-1 and being outscored 6-3 in those first two games.
Sounds like a worthy opponent.
This year’s Unity team finished 11-0-1 in the Ottawa Kent Conference-Black Division and has 19 shutouts in 23 games, and have posted a 102-4 scoring edge and a stout 0.18 goals-against-average as a team. That is one of the best team defensive stats in state history.
The Crusaders welcomed back seven starters and a deep well of reserves from last year. Miss Soccer favorite and Michigan State signee Ava Lutke and junior center back Ava Steen, also a returning All-State Dream Team player, have led the way along with several other future college players, multi-sport athletes and several standout club players from some prestigious youth clubs in the area or around Michigan.
This team has become one of the better teams and its work is not yet done. The program has yet to concede a goal in the last three state tournaments.
“We’ve had some great teams over the years, and I feel that this team is one of the deeper teams,” noted Heethuis, who would not say which team was his best.
It’s not like the Crusaders haven’t put up gaudy numbers before.
The 2023 team finished 21-1-2 with a 113-8 scoring edge and 16 shutouts and that was with a senior-heavy team. In 2024, Unity Christian posted a 22-1-1 overall record and had a 110-11 scoring edge with 15 shutouts – a season with nine new starters and 14 new varsity players.
Both of those teams captured the Division 3 state title. In fact all 12 of the state crowns have come in Division 3. This year’s run to the state finals game is the first in Division 2.
Several other teams over the past 25 years have also rang up similar numbers. The program has found ways for success and few program around the state have rivaled Unity Christian in terms of total success – not in the last 25 years or since the MHSAA adopted girls soccer back in 1983. The Michigan Suburban Coaches Association held an Open Class state tournament from 1978-82 with a couple dozen fledgling programs in the state competing there at the time.
The 2022 team finished 21-2-1 with 11 shutouts and a 103-17 edge on the board but lost in the state title game to Williamston (3-2).
Over the last four seasons, Unity has an 85-4-6 record, .895 win percentage, 57 shutouts and a 428-40 scoring edge over four seasons. Regardless if the Crusaders win the title or finish as runner-up, the Crusaders have put together one of the better four-year stretches in state history.
This year’s team has a plethora of talent. So have many of these highly-competitive or state finalists teams the school has assembled over the years. Especially in recent times, where Unity Christian just like 100s of programs in Michigan, have lost players to year-round youth club programs in either the Girls Academy League (GA) or Elite Clubs National League (ECNL).
“That’s a real shame that so many kids out there don’t have the chance to play for their school,” noted Heethuis. “But that’s a choice I guess a lot of kids and their families have to make.”
But many have or do put on the Unity Christian kits – hundreds have done so over the last 36 seasons. There have been some ups and downs but more glorious moments and stories to share by Heethuis, assistant coaches, players, parents, alumni, school administrators and others involved in the program this year or in the past few decades.
The program does not seem to be slowing down any time soon.
“It’s been a lot of fun over the years, coaching that first season and teaching some kids how to play to winning state titles or even the years we didn’t win or didn’t win anything,” said Heethuis, a 1984 graduate of nearby Holland Christian. “Even coaching our boys (soccer) program all of those years. We had some great teams and players there, too. I am blessed to be able to coach these kids.”
Through the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat, Hudsonville Unity Christian has been blessed by having a coach like Randy Heethuis in the past, the current year or how many more years he opts to coach into the future.
As another coach in Michigan said last year that he would put Randy Heethuis’ coaching ability up against all of the high-licensed coaches of various levels across Michigan.
Judging by the numbers, as a coach he has all of that and more to back that up.
UNITY CHRISTIAN BY THE NUMBERS
STATE CHAMPIONS
2025: Either state champ or state runner-up; game to be played on June 13 (D-2)
2024 (D-3)
2023 (D-3)
2016 (D-3)
2015 (D-3)
2014 (D-3)
2012 (D-3)
2010 (D-3)
2009 (D-3)
2008 (D-3)
2007 (D-3)
2006 (D-3)
2005 (D-3)
STATE RUNNERS-UP
2025: Either state champ or state runner-up; game to be played on June 13 (D-2)
2022 (D-3)
2011 (D-3)
2004 (D-3)
2002 (D-3)
STATE FINALISTS
17 times (16 in Division 3 and this year in Division 2)
LOST IN FINAL FOUR
2021
2017
2003
1998
TOTAL FINAL FOUR APPEARANCES:
21
LOST IN REGIONAL FINALS:
2018
2013
2001
1999
LOST IN REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
2000
LOST IN DISTRICT FINALS
2019
LOST IN DISTRICTS
(pre-district, district semifinals or district finals)
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
2019
FIRST STATE TITLE
2005
FIRST STATE RUNNER-UP
2002
FIRST FINAL FOUR / REGIONAL TITLE
1998
FIRST CONFERENCE
1996
FIRST DISTRICT
1998
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