All Roads Lead to Illinois: Four Illini Fulfill Childhood Dreams With Softball Program

For Zoie Howard, the University of Illinois was home before she could walk. And, in all honesty, before she even knew what the University of Illinois was. The daughter of two Illinois alumni, Howard has been all things Illini since she was in diapers, donning orange and blue and attending sporting events for as long as she can remember.

“Since I was little, the only college I ever knew of was Illinois,” Howard said. “I have pictures of me at Illinois games with my orange and blue when I could barely walk. All my parents’ friends, all my aunts and uncles, and my close family friends graduated from here, so it’s been home ever since I was little.”

Following in the footsteps of father Dana, who played football at Illinois and has been inducted into the Illinois Athletics and College Football Halls of Fame, and mother Patrice, who earned an accounting degree from UI, Zoie Howard continued the family tradition by attending Illinois. Now a senior and in her fourth season with the softball team, Howard wears No. 40, the same number worn by her dad, which pays tribute to her longtime family legacy in Champaign-Urbana.

“I obviously chose it because he chose it,” Howard said. “I wanted to continue his legacy when I came here. At first, I didn’t want to wear #40, because I wanted to build my own legacy, but I feel like it was cool to bring a part of him with me on this journey.”

Freshman Ella Cushing also comes from a family with Illinois Athletics ties. Her father, Matt, competed for the Illini football team from 1994-98, and Ella remembers attending games in Champaign with her dad and family at a young age. She still fondly recalls getting to go on the field at Memorial Stadium growing up, an experience that meant everything to the lifelong Illini.

“I thought it was the coolest thing in the world,” Cushing said. “I was little, and it was such a fun experience. I was maybe on the field for 10 minutes, but I still thought it was so cool.”

Now, Cushing has begun writing her own chapter in the Cushing family story at Illinois. Currently in her first season with the softball team, Cushing never considered spending her collegiate career anywhere else.

“I was super excited because as soon as I got my offer, I knew this was the only place I ever wanted to go,” Cushing said. “If I didn’t play softball here, I probably would’ve gone here anyway. Getting the opportunity to play softball here was super exciting.”

Lizzie Stiverson and Karley Yergler had slightly different paths to the Illini, but they have both bled orange and blue for their entire lives. The pair, each coming from central Illinois, spent their first two collegiate seasons playing softball at Parkland College.

Hailing from Monticello, Illinois, Stiverson grew up attending Illini sporting events with her family, using it as an opportunity to see her dad, a police sergeant for UIPD, at work. Mainly going to basketball and football games, Stiverson cites the Ayo Dosunmu-led Illinois men’s basketball teams as one of the fondest memories of her childhood.

“I remember sitting on my living room floor and watching him,” Stiverson said. “My mom got the Ayo Dosunmu mask. That was the most exciting time for Illinois basketball. My family and I loved to watch that team, and those were just good memories.”

Staying close to home at Parkland, Stiverson earned the opportunity to make a dream come true in 2025, joining the Fighting Illini following two standout seasons at shortstop for the Cobras. 

“My family was beyond excited for me. I was also super duper excited. This has been my dream since I was young,” Stiverson said. “It’s super important to represent this school. I know this school is very good academically, and being able to perform for them on the softball field and represent them in the classroom, on the field, and during community service is really cool. Bringing up the name of Illinois is super important to me and means a lot.”

For Yergler, Illinois is all she has ever known. From going to softball, basketball, and football games to wearing Illini gear as a newborn, Yergler’s family always emphasized the importance of the University of Illinois.

That passion was passed on to Yergler, who is from Mahomet and spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons close to home as a pitcher at Parkland. Always staying up to date and involved with the Orange and Blue, Yergler is now honored to represent the team she grew up supporting.

“All my life, for as long as I can remember, I have been an Illinois fan. I was never a fan of any other team. It’s all I’ve ever known,” Yergler said. “When I got the opportunity to play here, it didn’t hit me that it was real until I was actually here. It was so cool, just knowing that it was so close to home. I grew up watching it, and now I get to be one of those girls on the field. It’s just so surreal. It’s been amazing. I can go back and look at pictures I took of the girls on the field when I was younger, and now I’m one of those girls.”

From sitting in the stands to taking the mound at Eichelberger Field, Yergler has come full circle as an Illini. Still in awe every time she puts on the Illinois uniform, she is soaking in and enjoying the moment, turning lifelong dreams into reality.

“It means so much to me. It truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Yergler said. “Everyone around here is an Illinois fan, so it’s so cool when people tell me that their kids look up to me. I think back to when I was a little girl in the stands watching, and I was looking up to those girls. Now, I have the opposite role. It’s really cool and such a great opportunity.”

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