Kram leaves legacy

Losing a leader is never easy. But, the women's soccer team is losing not only a leader in graduating senior Kelly Kram, but also a dedicated teammate, an experienced player and a humorous personality. After four years of stellar play for the Hoosiers, Kram will graduate tomorrow with a degree in exercise science.\n"It's really hard (to leave)," Kram said. "I'm excited, but I'm kind of scared. I think I've progressed a lot as a person at IU. I've become a lot more independent and I've grown up a lot."\nAfter graduation, Kram will move to Dallas, Tex. where she will work with a pharmaceutical company. While she is excited about her future, Kram said it will be tough to leave IU. \nTeammate Emily Hotz, a sophomore, said Kram's talent and personality will be missed.\n"She brought leadership," Hotz said. "She definitely brought her enthusiasm and her outstanding personality and she always made everything more fun. She had a great atttitude about soccer and everything else. She'll be very successful -- she has a great work ethic and personality."\nKram has played soccer for most of her life. While in kindergarten, her father coached a soccer team and helped to develop Kram's interest in the sport. Her siblings are also rich in talent for the sport, as her older sister played for the University of Missouri and her younger sister is a freshman on the University of Texas squad. \nKram, a native of Chesterfield, Mo., decided to come to IU while at Lafayette High School, where her soccer coach was an IU grad. She was looking for a school that wasn't too far away, but still let her leave home. IU provided a perfect fit. \nIn her first three seasons, Kram established herself on the team as an offensive force. In her freshman year, Kram scored a goal against Wright State to bolster a 3-1 win in the first round of the NCAA tournament. In her junior year, Kram started all 18 games and led the team with five goals, four assists and 14 points. As a senior, she took on a more defensive role as well as a leadership role as a team captain. \n"It really wasn't that hard to be a captain," Kram said. "The girls were always really good. It wasn't hard at all."\nIn addition to leading on the field, former head coach Joe Kelley said Kram had a penchant for keeping spirits high with humor and levity. He remembers how Kram would always try to trick the coaching staff into partaking in a rookie initiation ceremony where freshman teammates would have to dance down the aisles of the team bus. \n"She was just funny," Kelley said. "She had a great sense of humor. She was a pleasure to be around."\nAs for her attempt in the rookie initiation, Kelley eventually gave in.\n"She always tried to make the coaches do it and it was always very funny the ways she would attempt that," he said. "Once and only once, yes, she succeeded." \nKram said humor plays an important role in keeping spirits high as well as fostering a satisfaction for the sport.\n"I think humor is good," Kram said. "There's always a time and place for it, but I think you have to have a good balance between hard work and also being able to laugh about things and have a good time. If you don't enjoy playing, I don't think you're going to be a good player."\nKelley said the transition from having Kram's personality, talent and leadership on the team will be a difficult one. \n"It's hard," he said. "She is somebody that the girls are going to miss and I will definitely miss because she was easy to coach from a standpoint that she understood what I wanted. You try to get those relationships with certain players where they become a coach on the field, and that's going to be hard to replace. But she's going to do great. Whatever Kelly does in any line of business, she'll be very successful"