Tina (left) and Chris Horvath, the parents of Eastern Illinois punter Jacob Horvath, will see their third EIU game of the season Saturday night during their trip to the U.S. from Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Barry Bottino
CHARLESTON – Eastern Illinois punter Jacob Horvath’s mother and aunt had never seen a college football game.
But Saturday night in Evanston, his mother Tina, father Chris, and aunt Cathy will see their third game in the past three weeks when the Panthers (1-1) face Northwestern (1-1) as the finale to a nearly month-long U.S. trip from their native Australia.
“It’s been awesome,” said Jacob Horvath, a sophomore at EIU. “I haven’t seen them since January. We speak every day, but it’s obviously different face to face.”
The Horvaths flew 16 hours from Melbourne to Dallas last month, had a two-hour layover, then flew three hours to Chicago.
Road warriors
Along with logging thousands of air miles, they’ve driven hundreds of miles around the Midwest, along with stops in Charleston.
“We have been planning this trip since January,” Chris Horvath said outside O’Brien Field before the Panthers beat Indiana State last weekend. “We were waiting for the schedule, because that (season-opening Illinois) game kept moving. Once that game got locked in, we booked our tickets and here we are.”
After Eastern’s loss in Champaign, the family drove to Milwaukee for two IndyCar series races. “I’m a bit of a car racing fan,” said Chris Horvath, who works in residential construction. “We were lucky enough to get some tickets through a New Zealand guy who runs in IndyCar, Scott McLaughlin. He won (the second race), so that was pretty cool.”
Before returning to Charleston for the home opener, they spent time at a home along the Mississippi River in Iowa. “Tina loves lake house places on American (TV) shows,” Chris Horvath said.
This week, they spent time in Memphis and Nashville before driving to Evanston on Friday.
They will fly home after a couple of days exploring Chicago.
Meet and greet
One of the highlights for Horvath’s family has been meeting his friends and teammates, along with their families.
“My friends are a big part of my life here, and they’ve helped me a lot,” Jacob Horvath said. “I’ve stayed at a lot of my mates’ houses over Thanksgiving and school breaks.”
The family visited an EIU practice and got a chance to meet numerous players and coaches.
“Now, we’ve been to a couple of tailgates and we’re meeting the families and they’ve been so welcoming,” said Tina Horvath, who works in the Australian banking industry. “It’s been nice to picture where he is. He’s been lucky. A lot of the families have been really good to him while he’s been here.”
Though Chris Horvath attended an EIU game last season, 20-year-old Jacob started the journey on his own. “It was really hard,” Tina Horvath said of their only child leaving home. “We didn’t come over when he first came. He wanted to do it on his own.”
Meeting their son’s community of friends, teammates and coaches was a major plus during the trip.
Having the punter’s family in the U.S. has allowed the EIU football program to embrace them as well.
“They’re an amazing family,” Eastern head coach Chris Wilkerson said. “At this place, the difference is the people. (Jacob) will build relationships here that will last a lifetime.”
Coles County Aussie
Jacob Horvath isn’t alone as a newcomer to the U.S. from Australia.
Wilkerson’s wife, Sharna, was a softball catcher from Brisbane, Australia, who arrived in Charleston in the fall of 1991.
“That’s been an extra bonus,” Chris Horvath said. “She’s been through the process. She’s moved from Australia to Charleston and has an appreciation for what a big change it is for someone to leave their family and come to the other side of the world.”
When he first arrived last season, Jacob Horvath said he would regularly get care packages of Australian foods from Sharna Wilkerson.
“She’s been so helpful to me,” Jacob Horvath said. “I can’t thank her and her family enough for how much they’ve taken me in and the love they showed me.”
Sharna Wilkerson’s time at Eastern has had a lasting impact, according to her husband, and made her want others to experience the benefits of being in the EIU community.
“She was treated so well by the people in Charleston and at Eastern Illinois,” Chris Wilkerson said. “It was such a good experience that any time we have a chance to have foreign players – and Australians specifically – she really wants to go above and beyond because the people were so genuine and authentic and nice to her.”
Jacob Horvath will return home around the Christmas holiday for the semester break.
After his career is over, his family said they would welcome his return to Australia.
“We’re hoping that, unlike Sharna, Jacob comes home,” Chris Horvath joked. “She’s been here 30 years.”
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and spent 19 years at three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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