Laura Heyboer-Heethuis was the first soccer player inducted into the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame and also in 2022 was the first women’s soccer player to be named to the Michigan State University Athletics Hall of Fame.
The Hudsonville native starred first at Unity Christian High and finished her career as Michigan’s all-time points leader with 290. She was twice named Michigan’s Miss Soccer and was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year while also earn all-state honors four times. She had 167 goals and 123 assists in her career, led her team to a 107-1-1 record and four state championships.
Her club team, Bloomfield Force, won the State Cup and a national club team title, and she was named the outstanding player at the national tournament. She was on the Olympic Development Program State Team for seven years as well.
At Michigan State University she is regarded as the best player in school history. She earned four All-America and four first-team All-Big Ten selections, earned Academic All-America accolades and left the program with top career marks in points (139), goals (57), assists (25) and game-winning goals (19), all still career records in 2022.
She was the 19th pick in the Women's Professional Soccer draft, selected by Sky Blue FC and played two seasons before the league folded. In 2014, she teamed up with her husband, Brad Heethuis of Hudsonville, to become a coaching duo at Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania. She led the women’s program and was an assistant to her husband with the men’s team.
They returned home to Michigan in 2021 with Brad becoming the athletic director at Kalamazoo Christian High School. Laura is working in athletic apparel sales for BSN Sports. They live in Portage.