All your favorite teams and sources in one place

Build your feed

Your Teams.
All Sources.

Build your feed

© 2024 BVM Sports. Best Version Media, LLC.

No results found.
Helderop leaves his mark on Century soccer
Helderop leaves the Patriots after four years of varsity soccer, two of which he was awarded first team all-state honors. (Courtesy: Kera Helderop)

Helderop leaves his mark on Century soccer

BISMARCK, N.D. (BVM) — Nikko Helderop has ended a chapter of his life after playing his last high school soccer game ever at Bismarck Century.

“I still can’t believe that it’s over,” Helderop said.

He left on a high note, helping the Patriots win their first soccer title since 2013, ending what the team had called “the curse,” the inability of the skilled Bismarck Century team to make it back to the state championship game. 

It was something that has haunted the team since Helderop joined varsity as a freshman. However, Helderop was determined to not let that be there when he left.

“I wanted to make a statement,” Helderop said. “My mentality was I wanted to break that curse.”

Helderop was coming off an impressive junior season where he led the Western Dakota Association (WDA) in assists with eight and total points with 17. He was also awarded first team all-state honors, the only one from the Patriots to make the first team.

“It felt good being able to be one of the top players in the state,” Helderop said.

This season started with some obstacles as Helderop missed the first two games of the season due to COVID-19 worries. Once he returned, he quickly got back to work, pushing Century to get better and to overcome the new problems that came from the pandemic.

One of the biggest tests the Patriots faced was when half the varsity team was forced to sit out from being in close contact to someone who had tested positive. This required many JV players to suit up for varsity.

“I had to step up and help these guys understand what is expected when they come into the varsity games,” Helderop said.

For Helderop, it was a chance to do for these young players what the seniors had done for him when he first played varsity as a freshman.

“I learned a lot from those older guys and that really played an important role,” Helderop said.

Playing with those older players in both high school and club helped shape Helderop’s approach to the game that he loves.

“These guys are older and they know more about the game than me so my mentality was, ‘I gotta bring my A-game, I gotta step it up, I gotta train harder, and I gotta bring that intensity to all my practices and all of my games,’” Helderop said. “That was my mentality throughout my high school career and even middle school career.” 

Helderop drew from all those past experiences to help his team overcome the hurdles that were added to their season. 

The Patriots would lose in the conference championship game to crosstown rival Bismarck High, but they quickly moved their focus to the playoffs. Like in years past, they made it to the state tournament and were facing off against Grand Forks Red River in the quarterfinals.

It was in this game where the curse almost took another season from the Patriots. They found themselves down 2-0 late, but unlike in years past, this would not be the end of their season.

“The mentality of these guys was they wanted to win, they needed to win,” Helderop said. “We needed that mentality to push us through to the semifinals.” 

The Patriots tied the game, scoring with nine minutes left and with 29 seconds left in regulation to push the game to overtime. After OT, it took 10 rounds of PKs to finally send the Patriots to the semifinals.

Beating Sheyenne in the semifinals set Century up for a rematch with Bismarck High less than a week after losing to the Demons in the WDA championship.

It was a game that meant a lot to Helderop. This one was not just for him but for all those players who had helped him get to this point that hadn’t been able to win the championship during their time as a Patriot. It was also for Ryan Okerson, who had taken over as coach when Helderop joined the team as a freshman.

“It felt really special to come out in Ryan’s fourth year and win a state championship,” Helderop said. 

In the rubber match against Bismarck, the Patriots fought hard. The game went back and forth for a while until Helderop assisted Chance Bowlinger on a goal that put Century up 3-2. They didn’t look back from there. 

Although it still doesn’t feel like it’s over, Helderop is already looking to the future. He was again awarded first team all-state honors and hopes that this will help in his pursuit of playing college soccer. 

He does have some schools he is looking at but is making sure that whatever school he chooses, he will be able to achieve his goal of becoming a nurse. 

Helderop also plans to help the Century team train during summer to make sure that the curse doesn’t come back after this state championship run.