FGCU Men's Soccer is back on the pitch. The Eagles are looking to bounce back after a sub-.500 season a year ago. If they want to do that, they'll need to become a family — a focus point for head coach Jesse Cormier.
“We want to really focus on the culture," Cormier said. "We want to focus on the team.”
The good news is that FGCU's senior captain, Lucas Windschauer, knows plenty about family. He is one of nine siblings in a very active house.
“[It was] busy for sure," Windschauer said. "The house was never empty.”
Lucas and his siblings always stayed active. They played almost every sport imaginable — from soccer to cheerleading to baseball to hockey and everything in between.
There's one sibling that had a special impact on Lucas — Kevin Lee. Kevin came to Florida in high school through a foreign exchange program. He is originally from South Korea. He went to school and befriended Lucas's older brother.
“He brought [Kevin] home one day and asked my parents if, 'Hey, can he stay with us? He’s in a tough living situation,'" Windschauer said. "My parents said, 'Of course.'”
Little did they know that decision would lead to Kevin fully becoming a Windschauer. He has now lived in the States and has been a part of Lucas's family for 17 years.
“I consider him a brother," Windschauer said. "He played a large influence in my life.”
His largest impact has come on the pitch. Kevin taught Lucas all he knows about soccer. Kevin was an avid soccer fan in South Korea before coming to Florida. Once he joined the Windschauer family, he became close with Lucas thanks to the sport. The two would watch games together and practice all the time. Lucas was even the ball boy while Kevin played on the high school team. Lucas says that Kevin is a major reason why he is now at a Division I college and an All-Conference caliber player.
“Everything that involved the game he taught me about," Windschauer said.
Kevin still watches every single one of Lucas's games. Windschauer was in Vermont this summer playing for the Vermont Green FC. He says that Kevin would watch the streams of those games and send him pointers and words of encouragement.
“We’ll talk on the phone, send messages back and forth," Windschauer said. "It’s awesome.”
With Kevin and his family's support, Lucas is now trying to turn FGCU into a family and lead the Eagles to a successful season.
“I think this is a very strong team," Windschauer said. “I’m super excited for this Fall. I think this is the best chance we have at going really far.”
FGCU begins its season at Elon on Thursday.