By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
Special to Hays Post
There was never any doubt that Terry and Jackie Arndt’s three sons would play soccer while growing up in Wichita.
Or that they would carry on the family tradition and all wear No. 7 jerseys in club soccer, the same number worn by their dad.
Or that they would all aspire to play college ball — like their dad.
But they probably never thought that two of them would end up at the same college, playing different sports.
Middle brother Blake is a 6-foot, 4-inch forward for the Fort Hays State University men’s soccer team and in his fourth season playing for the Tigers. Youngest brother Carson is in his first year as a kicking specialist for the Tiger football team.
Jackie Arndt said their boys were playing soccer almost before they could walk, then began playing competitively at age 4 for the Wichita Cyclones under the watchful eye of their coach and father.
The family lived, ate and breathed soccer while traveling many a mile across the state and to numerous states as well while the boys were growing up.
Even then, it wasn’t a big surprise when Carson decided to pursue football in college after spending the fall semester playing two sports for three years in high school.
Oldest brother Spencer and Blake were right on cue when they took off for college to follow their dreams after successful soccer careers at Wichita Northwest High School.
Carson looked to be on a similar path when he got to play one year of high school soccer with Blake in the fall of 2017.
After Blake took off for college, Carson knew it was up to him to carry on the family name at Northwest High during the next three years.
But it just so happened that the Grizzlies football team needed a kicker his sophomore season.
So Carson decided to give football a try, while also playing his first love — soccer.
That same year, Blake transferred from the University of Central Arkansas to Fort Hays State, where he made an immediate impact with the Tigers.
He was named conference offensive player of the year and newcomer of the year in the GAC/lMIAA following his first season and has racked up numerous team, league and regional honors every year.
And Mom and Dad continued putting lots of miles on their vehicles.
Meanwhile, Wichita Northwest enjoyed a lot of success in football, and Carson lost only three games during his three-year high school career. So he knew he had a couple of options after graduation.
An obvious choice was to follow in his brothers’ and father’s footsteps and pursue the chance to play soccer in college.
But then the COVID-19 pandemic leveled a lot of plans for athletes at all levels.
College players were granted an extra year of eligibility because of COVID, changing the recruitment picture for high school athletes for a couple of years.
The Butler Community College football program in nearby El Dorado showed strong interest in Carson, so he decided to change fields.
It’s been a good fit for him.
Carson had visited FHSU to watch Blake play soccer, and after earning all-conference recognition both years at Butler, he checked out the Tiger football team.
Carson is majoring in construction management, and FHSU features a state-of-the-art facility and one of the best programs in the country in that area.
“I knew Hays was a good town and the football community, too,” he said. “And with Blake being here, I was comfortable with the campus.”
So Carson became a Tiger, won the kicking job in preseason camp and is a perfect 13-for-13 on extra-point attempts this year.
Like Blake, Carson made a splash in the Tigers’ conference immediately. He earned special teams athlete-of-the-week recognition in the MIAA after helping FHSU upset nationally ranked Northwest Missouri State 17-6 during the third game of the season.
Junior Parker Janky recently returned from an injury and is back to taking care of kickoff duties. But Carson will continue to kick extra points and field goals. Blake earned a bachelor’s degree in business management in December 2022 and decided to use his COVID year in soccer this season.
With two sons competing at the same college, Terry and Jackie anticipated the possibility of watching both play in Hays on the same weekend.
So far this season, that hasn’t happened.
The Arndts will participate in FHSU Homecoming activities for the first time and watch Carson kick at Lewis Field Stadium. The Tigers (2-2) take on Lincoln University (0-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Tiger soccer team (2-5) is on the road for a two-game stand in Arkansas.
With this being Blake’s final year of collegiate soccer, the Arndts usually try to attend most of his soccer games if there is an overlap with football. But they decided to stream Blake’s games this weekend and come to Hays for Carson’s first homecoming at FHSU.
Spencer lives in Wichita but has prior commitments this weekend, so he will stream both teams to watch his brothers’ games.
While Homecoming weekends are always exciting, the Arndts are especially looking forward to Oct. 14.
The Tiger football team will entertain the University of Nebraska-Kearney at 1 p.m. on that Saturday, and FHSU soccer is scheduled to take on Rogers State (Okla.) University at 6 that evening.
“This is pretty neat, both of us being here competing at the same college,” Blake said. “It’s not something a lot of brothers get to do, and we get to experience it for at least one year.”
And you can bet that Terry and Jackie Arndt will be booking a hotel room for Oct. 14 in Hays.
