Batavia's Zink misses the zen of soccer
By Patrick Z. McGavin
The complexities of the mind remain daunting, open and constantly changing.
What makes an athlete go: the drive for success; the quest for individual achievement; the desire to stand out or be separate from the pack?
Regardless of level or sport, the question is a great leveler. A right or definite answer is impossible to come by.
Batavia senior Izabella Zink suggests one intriguing scenario, the game as an ultimate form of distraction. Let the mind be open and free until eventually all points converge.
The previous questions play overlapping parts of the equation.
Rather than suggesting antipathy, Zink said it is a necessary clearing of the decks and coping mechanism for a season cruelly taken away by the ramifications of the novel coronavirus.
“I have been working out a lot,” Zink said. “The moment has been about distracting myself and realizing we are not going to have a season anymore.
“I am trying to move on.”
Zink has been a central and distinctive part of the Bulldogs since she was elevated to the varsity at the Tournament of Champions in Burlington, Iowa, during her freshman year.
The most crushing part of her lost senior year is how she was deprived of showing what she was all about. She was always a player who cared deeply.
“Ever since I was little and been able to play, the game has always been something that has made me very happy,” Zink said. “I just distract myself from everything else, and just focus on soccer.”
Distract is the key word. She sculpts it to her own meaning. For her it means not a loss of focus or being untethered.
It means just living in that moment, beautifully and passionately, to the extent everything else is insignificant or holding little purpose.
Zink is a heady and skilled midfielder who represents a throwback. Her game is marked by intensity, engagement and selflessness that radiates in all directions.
“From an earlier point on I was always a good teammate,” she said. “I had the attitude of always being on the field, wanting to be positive and keep my teammates focused on our goal.
“That has been a big part of my game.”
She combines excellent speed and quickness with a strong touch on the ball. She also has a vision about the game and the right way to play, a democratizing force that allows everyone an opportunity to excel.
“I am a very calm player,” she said. “I like to play the easy way, play what I see and figure out whatever flows the best. I am a very passing-oriented person. I like to get the ball to my teammates.
“That is just the kind of player that I am.”
The pandemic has crushed a great many dreams this spring, cutting across all sides, race, class and gender.
With multiple college recruits, top-line players and skilled returners back from a shared conference championship team, Batavia must only wonder what might have been.
“It is really hard to accept that we are losing this final year,” Zink said. “I have just been staying active and keeping myself productive. I have tried not to be upset about everything.”
The upending of normality, of regularity, is the hardest part.
Zink is not alone, and she has friends and teammates to connect with during the downtime. Zink and Abby Zipse, a Northern Illinois recruit, are doing whatever possible to help each other out.
“I have been playing with Bella since the fourth grade, so I have gotten to know her both and off the field pretty well,” Zipse said.
“She is hard-working and has incredible foot skills and vision of the field. I always know where she is going to be, because she built a great chemistry in the midfield.”
During the shutdown of in-school learning and cancellation of practice and games, Zink and Zipse have found time to get together to rediscover that sense of grace and subtlety.
It helps remove the sting.
“We have been playing together since we were like seven years old. We are literally like sisters,” Zink said. “The dynamic with us has always been nice, very normal. I am always able to trust her, and she always knows I have her back.”
Growing up in Batavia, her greatest inspiration was her older sister Allie.
“She was really good at everything, and I really looked up to her,” she said. “I tried to pick the one sport that I loved the most and tried to be good at it.”
That sport was soccer. Her introduction was gradual and then almost compulsive as far as the time, energy and dedication she wove around her playing.
Recreational leagues in Batavia soon morphed into serious travel club play. Zink never looked back.
Her story is not a closed one. She is set to play at Wisconsin-Parkside, a solid Division II program.
That makes a difference, providing the necessary jolt of optimism as so many of the past weeks have just bled together.
“Playing in college definitely helps me,” she said. “Some of my teammates are never going to be playing soccer again, and that is a lot tougher for them.
“I know I still have something to look forward to.”
Making the leap to college soccer means adjusting to the changed calendar with the women’s season starting at the end of August.
Zink has a quick turnaround, and is getting herself ready — psychologically and physically — for the rigors and demands of the college game. By her own admission, that itself marks a great unknown.
As she ponders the next stage of her life, it is only natural she reflects on the years that just passed by.
In the inaugural season of the DuKane Conference, Batavia shared the title with St. Charles East. The Bulldogs ended the North Stars’ nearly four-year run of undefeated regular-season play.
That Batavia-Geneva-St. Charles pipeline is the epicenter of Kane County soccer. Being part of that is special.
“I have really loved playing people from other schools who I know from my club,” she said. “That has been really fun and makes it really interesting.”
The moments away have only amplified the part of the game has meant so much.
“What I am going to cherish the most is being with all of my teammates that I have known and being part of a high school team,” she said.
“When you have your friends, your teachers and people that you know in the crowd watching you, that is a big rush.”
By Patrick Z. McGavin
The complexities of the mind remain daunting, open and constantly changing.
What makes an athlete go: the drive for success; the quest for individual achievement; the desire to stand out or be separate from the pack?
Regardless of level or sport, the question is a great leveler. A right or definite answer is impossible to come by.
Batavia senior Izabella Zink suggests one intriguing scenario, the game as an ultimate form of distraction. Let the mind be open and free until eventually all points converge.
The previous questions play overlapping parts of the equation.
Rather than suggesting antipathy, Zink said it is a necessary clearing of the decks and coping mechanism for a season cruelly taken away by the ramifications of the novel coronavirus.
“I have been working out a lot,” Zink said. “The moment has been about distracting myself and realizing we are not going to have a season anymore.
“I am trying to move on.”
Zink has been a central and distinctive part of the Bulldogs since she was elevated to the varsity at the Tournament of Champions in Burlington, Iowa, during her freshman year.
The most crushing part of her lost senior year is how she was deprived of showing what she was all about. She was always a player who cared deeply.
“Ever since I was little and been able to play, the game has always been something that has made me very happy,” Zink said. “I just distract myself from everything else, and just focus on soccer.”
Distract is the key word. She sculpts it to her own meaning. For her it means not a loss of focus or being untethered.
It means just living in that moment, beautifully and passionately, to the extent everything else is insignificant or holding little purpose.
Zink is a heady and skilled midfielder who represents a throwback. Her game is marked by intensity, engagement and selflessness that radiates in all directions.
“From an earlier point on I was always a good teammate,” she said. “I had the attitude of always being on the field, wanting to be positive and keep my teammates focused on our goal.
“That has been a big part of my game.”
She combines excellent speed and quickness with a strong touch on the ball. She also has a vision about the game and the right way to play, a democratizing force that allows everyone an opportunity to excel.
“I am a very calm player,” she said. “I like to play the easy way, play what I see and figure out whatever flows the best. I am a very passing-oriented person. I like to get the ball to my teammates.
“That is just the kind of player that I am.”
The pandemic has crushed a great many dreams this spring, cutting across all sides, race, class and gender.
With multiple college recruits, top-line players and skilled returners back from a shared conference championship team, Batavia must only wonder what might have been.
“It is really hard to accept that we are losing this final year,” Zink said. “I have just been staying active and keeping myself productive. I have tried not to be upset about everything.”
The upending of normality, of regularity, is the hardest part.
Zink is not alone, and she has friends and teammates to connect with during the downtime. Zink and Abby Zipse, a Northern Illinois recruit, are doing whatever possible to help each other out.
“I have been playing with Bella since the fourth grade, so I have gotten to know her both and off the field pretty well,” Zipse said.
“She is hard-working and has incredible foot skills and vision of the field. I always know where she is going to be, because she built a great chemistry in the midfield.”
During the shutdown of in-school learning and cancellation of practice and games, Zink and Zipse have found time to get together to rediscover that sense of grace and subtlety.
It helps remove the sting.
“We have been playing together since we were like seven years old. We are literally like sisters,” Zink said. “The dynamic with us has always been nice, very normal. I am always able to trust her, and she always knows I have her back.”
Growing up in Batavia, her greatest inspiration was her older sister Allie.
“She was really good at everything, and I really looked up to her,” she said. “I tried to pick the one sport that I loved the most and tried to be good at it.”
That sport was soccer. Her introduction was gradual and then almost compulsive as far as the time, energy and dedication she wove around her playing.
Recreational leagues in Batavia soon morphed into serious travel club play. Zink never looked back.
Her story is not a closed one. She is set to play at Wisconsin-Parkside, a solid Division II program.
That makes a difference, providing the necessary jolt of optimism as so many of the past weeks have just bled together.
“Playing in college definitely helps me,” she said. “Some of my teammates are never going to be playing soccer again, and that is a lot tougher for them.
“I know I still have something to look forward to.”
Making the leap to college soccer means adjusting to the changed calendar with the women’s season starting at the end of August.
Zink has a quick turnaround, and is getting herself ready — psychologically and physically — for the rigors and demands of the college game. By her own admission, that itself marks a great unknown.
As she ponders the next stage of her life, it is only natural she reflects on the years that just passed by.
In the inaugural season of the DuKane Conference, Batavia shared the title with St. Charles East. The Bulldogs ended the North Stars’ nearly four-year run of undefeated regular-season play.
That Batavia-Geneva-St. Charles pipeline is the epicenter of Kane County soccer. Being part of that is special.
“I have really loved playing people from other schools who I know from my club,” she said. “That has been really fun and makes it really interesting.”
The moments away have only amplified the part of the game has meant so much.
“What I am going to cherish the most is being with all of my teammates that I have known and being part of a high school team,” she said.
“When you have your friends, your teachers and people that you know in the crowd watching you, that is a big rush.”