As the new academic year begins, several Pella High School alumni found new homes for their spring sports after navigating transferring and the new rules related to the NCAA portal. Among those were softball alumni Ava Curry and Emma Eekhoff, who both landed at Division I programs — with Curry moving from Drake to the University of Iowa, and Eekhoff heading to Florida Gulf Coast University after leaving from the JUCO Indian River team. Both say it was an interesting challenge to make a quick turnaround from leaving their previous schools to finding new homes in a matter of weeks, but both are ultimately happy with where they landed. Interview with Curryhttps://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/2779/2026/07/31170148/ava-curry-7-31-26.mp3Interview with Eekhoff:https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/2779/2026/08/05134143/emma-eekhoff-for-rsp-8-5.mp3