Evan Edwards, a freshman and member of Buena Vista University’s Men Soccer team passed away on February 26, 2022 due to injuries sustained in a car accident. He was a business major from Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he went to Lewis Central School District. 

Edwards was first recruited by Men’s Head Soccer Coach Ross Minick. Minick said, “It was January [of 2021]. We have a couple kids on our Louis Central School System on our team, and I had been recruiting some of his friends who ended up choosing Wartburg over us. His father and I made a really good connection.” From there, the recruiting process began. 

Minick said that Edwards stuck out to him during the recruiting process. “That passion, I could tell he exuded it on a regular basis, and that’s so aggressive and a sign of a good player you want in your program.” Compared to other athletes, his self-belief also stood out to Minick. “You have guys that are cocky and over-confident in their ability. But Evan truly understood where he was in his process and continually wanted to get better and better in it.” He added, “He was intensely passionate about the game of soccer and wanting to better himself.” 

Minick said that something especially outstanding about Evan was his identity, and how he interacted with the sport of soccer. “I’ve talked about this a lot on multiple different avenues on campus, how athletes identify as athletes,” he explained. “It’s their main focus for a long time, and then when they get out of college, it’s tough for them because they’re not an athlete anymore. But he was concerned about academics, he was more than an athlete. It was super self-aware of him.” 

Gavin McIntosh, a freshman and member of the Men’s Soccer Team, met Evan in his sophomore year of high school. “Evan was probably the hardest working people I met. He was so determined and had his goals. He was always great to be around and funny, energetic, all-around great person,” McIntosh said. Jacob Adams, also a freshman and player on the team, added, “He was one of the hardest workers. I’d go to the gym, and he’d already be there working out.” 

Connor Williams, a sophomore, met Evan in the fourth grade. “His cousin was my next-door neighbor. I’ve known him a long time.” He said that Edwards got involved in soccer to be closer to his friends. “He was always a basketball player, but me and my best friends were in soccer. So, he joined and that’s when he would talk about going to D1. Here at Buena Vista, he was D3 but the rate he was going I could see him making it to that level.”

Minick mourned alongside the students. “I’ve lost grandparents, I’ve almost lost a friend. It was breaking, and I hate to say that it gave me the experience to process emotions in this aspect,” he said, with a heavy sigh. “But it did. It was such a recent thing. That first week after everything happened, mine and my assistant Kelsey’s main focus was making sure the guys had someone that they could come to talk to about it. I was not concerned about myself. I was concerned about Kelsey. This is us giving a big portion of ourselves to so many people,” he explained. “The memories of Evan and I last less than a year. You think, what else could come about if we continued that mentorship? He was destined for great things here, and it’s really sad.” 

“No one really still knows what to do,” freshman Gavin McIntosh said. “Everyone’s really determined and motivated to keep his legacy alive and achieve the goals he wanted.” BVU’s Men Soccer resumed practices the last week of March. “He would’ve thoroughly enjoyed being back on the field; we just spent the last two months talking about being back on the field. That’s the hardest part, is remembering the things he could have done. And should have.” Evan Edwards’s memory will remain on BVU’s campus through his friends and teammates.