Soccer Team Honors Life of a Player

The recent tragic death of 23-year-old soccer player Justin Bailey jolted a team in Holland. In memory of the player they all loved, teammates are wearing silicone wristbands in his name. News from Holland, this report comes from MyLive.com : “The reminders of Justin Bailey are everywhere.

The orange and blue rubber wristbands worn by every member of the Hope College men's soccer team and its coaching staff are imprinted with JB 6-23-11 to mark the date the 2010 graduate and former standout midfielder for the Flying Dutchmen died in a tragic auto accident in Kalamazoo County.

The same wristbands were stamped with the words: PLAY WITH PASSION.

It’s the simple code that Bailey, a four-year letterwinner on the soccer team, lived by and inspired everyone around him to emulate throughout a season in which the entire team has played with a heavy heart.

"It’s all part of the legacy Justin left," Hope assistant coach Lee Schopp said. "The guys have been wearing the bracelets all year. There’s never been another year like this year for this team in terms of being a family."

Bailey’s death at age 23 stunned the entire program. He had been such a popular figure on and off the field that it could have disrupted the team’s progress once the fall semester began.”