Green Bay Preble soccer standout Gavin Urben becomes latest in family to become a Phoenix
GREEN BAY – Like father, like son.
Green Bay Preble soccer standout Gavin Urben had several choices when it came time to committing to a college.
But IUPUI, Evansville and every other school interested probably was playing second fiddle to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay the entire time.
Urben announced his commitment to UWGB last weekend, becoming the latest member of his family to become a Phoenix.
His father, Eric, was a soccer standout as a midfielder at the school from 1996 to 1999 and was named the team’s most valuable player as a senior.
His mother, Deborah Kind Urben, was a star pitcher in softball from 1997 to 2000. She is a member of UWGB’s Hall of Fame and has her named splashed all over the Phoenix record book as the all-time leader in shutouts (16), second in wins (33) and complete games (45), and ninth in strikeouts (160). She also has the best single-season earned-run average (0.59).
Pressure for the young Urben, anyone?
“I don’t think I feel any pressure,” Urben said. “There is always going to be pressure, I mean, you are going into a DI school to play soccer. But I don’t think there is added pressure to live up to my dad’s legacy.”
Urben is the fifth Preble boys soccer player to commit to UWGB since longtime coach Chris Becker took over the Hornets in 2003.
The list includes Paul Giesler (2009), Andrew Stone (2009-11), Audi Jepson (2013-17) and Antonio DeCastro (2017).
Jepson had the most prolific career of the Preble alumni, leading the Phoenix to a Horizon League title and being named the league’s offensive player of the year as a senior before moving to the professional ranks.
It isn’t a surprise Urben is the latest Hornets player in this position.
He’s not afraid of hard work, made clear by a mind-numbing schedule that includes traveling to the Milwaukee area two or three times per week starting in November to train with his Wisconsin FC club team that plays until July.
That’s only after he puts in three months at Preble for the high school season.
It’s basically soccer every day, every year.
Urben was a second-team all-conference selection in the Fox River Classic this past season, and as a senior he will be one of the best players on a Hornets squad that almost always is in contention for a league championship or a potential trip to the WIAA state tournament.
The club season often is when potential college players get recruited, which means some will opt not to play their high school season in order to concentrate on club.
That wasn’t an option for Urben. He wanted both.
“I’d say I’ve gotten used to it over the time,” Urben said of the year-round focus on soccer. “At the start, it’s a big commitment, right? It’s pretty difficult in that sense. You get used to it, and it’s a lot of help from my parents.”
Urben already was so good entering high school that he made varsity as a freshman, which does not happen often at Preble.
He took nothing for granted during tryouts that year. He didn’t necessarily expect to make the final roster, but he also was confident he could do it. His only goal was to make the decision difficult on his coach.
Urben didn’t just make the team. He made a significant impact as a rookie during the alternate spring season in 2021, helping the Hornets get to within a game of state before losing to conference rival De Pere 1-0 in a sectional championship.
The Hornets lost again to the Redbirds in another sectional title showdown that fall.
Urben played more outside back as a freshman but helped in the middle. He’s now in the middle as a center back.
“Coming in as a freshman, he probably was one of the biggest guys on the team,” said Becker, who is entering his 21st season at Preble after a playing career at St. Norbert College. “He fit the box of a DI body. I knew he was a pretty special player from the get-go, just because not too many guys were pushing him as a freshman. A lot of times, freshmen come in scared. They are smaller. He was taking guys out. He was battling with the best of them.
“He has been a huge piece to our defense the last three years, and he will be one of the defensive leaders this year just like he was last year.”
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Urben also has shown to be quite good at basketball, but he gave up his opportunity to play last season because he didn’t want to risk getting injured for soccer.
The sport always has been his top love. He doesn’t even remember a day he wasn’t playing it.
Urben was just 5 in 2012 when his father began a three-year stint as the Pulaski boys coach, the same school at which his old man was a star as a three-time all-state selection before heading to UWGB.
His grandpa, Bruce, also had been the head coach at Pulaski and did more than perhaps anyone to help put the Red Raiders on the soccer map in the 1990s.
Urben found ways to improve each year growing up, and with his final prep season on the horizon, that won’t change.
“One of the biggest things I’ve learned, and I think I’ve gotten better at, is my communication,” Urben said. “I’m a center back, so communication is pretty big. I think that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve gotten better at over the years.”
There likely won’t be as much pressure on his shoulders entering the season now that he has his college future solidified at the place he always was meant to play.
The Phoenix went 6-3-7 in 2022 to produce its first winning season since 2018.
“It feels pretty good,” Urben said. “I grew up a GB fan. I live right here. My mom and dad kind of brought me up as a GB fan. I remember going to soccer games basically as long as I can remember.
“It’s pretty cool to be able to say that one, I will be able to play there, and two, to think about playing there. It’s just kind of surreal.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Preble's Gavin Urben commits to UWGB men's soccer
