CHEBOYGAN – It wasn’t technically a rule in the Baldwin household, but parents Todd and Donna made it clear to their children on one thing.
They wanted those children – Tyler, Hailey, Blaine, Addy and Ava – to play at least one sport.
While all five competed in hockey, there was also another sport they took up.
It was soccer, something they all fell in love with and cherish to this day.
Most recently, the Baldwin soccer legacy at the high school level concluded as Addy and Ava, a pair of twin wingers, wrapped up their senior seasons with the Chiefs.
It’s been about 20 years since Todd and Donna Baldwin began the soccer adventure with their children, starting with their first son Tyler. While Tyler didn’t compete at the high school level, he was highly active in recreational soccer.
Tyler was then followed by Hailey, who became a superb defender, earning all-conference honors and helping lift the Cheboygan girls to a district title as a freshman in 2014.
Then came Blaine, a smooth central midfielder who tormented opponents with powerful shots, precise passes, and pinpoint accurate free kicks.
Rounding out the Baldwin Five were Addy and Ava, forward attacking players who constantly made it difficult on opposing defenders throughout their careers. Addy, who finished off an excellent career that consisted of 14 goals and 24 assists, recently earned Northern Shores Conference first team honors, while Ava secured a spot on the second team.
Discussing her twin daughters and their siblings at last Tuesday’s Cheboygan team banquet, Donna struggled to hold back tears as far as the impact soccer has had on their lives.
“It’s amazing to see them all grow up and soccer finally clicks for them,” Donna said. “At first you see that they don’t know what they’re doing, then all of a sudden it just clicks, and they start going.”
For the Baldwin twins, they grew up emulating Hailey, the fiercest competitor of the bunch, but while she was living in California, Blaine was there to provide some tricks and sometimes trash talk as the three played together with their soccer net at home.
It got feisty at times, but it was all for a purpose.
“Blaine’s the one who kind of pushed us physically,” Addy said. “Last year when we were out in the yard, Blaine would get done with work and come out in his work clothes and start kicking the ball and say, ‘Hey, look what I can do with my left foot! You guys can’t do anything with your left foot!’ and we’d just be very competitive.”
As intense as it was between the brother and two sisters, Addy and Ava took the same competitiveness to the high school pitch, where it wasn’t always family friendly.
“Sometimes we’d want to pull each other’s hair out,” Ava said.
Though there were times when they weren’t on the same wavelength, Addy and Ava were both able to coexist and play their roles in making the Chiefs a better team.
“With us being twins, we can read each other’s mind on the field even though she’s all the way across the field. I know what she’s doing, and she knows what I’m doing,” Addy said.
“She could tell when I’m frustrated at her, and tell when I’m frustrated at other teams, and she would just tell me to calm down,” Ava added. “It’s the competitive level.”
Coaching them throughout high school was Cheboygan’s Tom Markham, who quickly noted the classic Baldwin traits that allowed both to thrive in his program.
“They work awfully hard,” Markham said. “They’re competitive. It doesn’t matter whether it’s practice or whether it’s a game, they’re going to get in there and get after it, and I think that’s a great quality. They are born competitors. I’m not the only one who sees that.”
With their high school careers complete – and the Baldwin soccer era over – the twins finished in style this spring by earning all-conference, all-district and all-academic honors.
But if there’s one thing they’re truly going to miss, it’s the bonds they built through the journey.
“I have countless friends on that team,” Addy said. “There’s a couple that have become my really close friends, and just the memories we make.”
“Most of these girls we’ve played with for over 10 years,” Ava continued. “Elise Markham, I’ve played with her since I was really little, and we got to click, and the bond was there.”
Donna, who takes photos of the team at games, won’t have any more children to watch at the high school level. In the end, she and her husband were just happy to see their kids play at least one sport all the way through – the plan all along.
“It was just great to watch them play and build so many friendships,” Donna said.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan twin sisters Addy, Ava put a powerful end to Baldwin family soccer legacy
Reporting by Jared Greenleaf, Cheboygan Daily Tribune / Cheboygan Daily Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
