Mitch Barnhart came across more new faces than he could count when he came to Kentucky in 2002.There were two he just kept noticing.”We came here about 13 years ago as an administration and this couple kept walking around our program,” Barnhart said. “And they kept showing up at events and we got to know them a little bit and spent a little time with us and they’d go on trips with us. Next thing I know, they’re traveling with the rifle team, the volleyball team, the women’s soccer team, showing up at softball.”The faces belonged to longtime UK supporters and K Fund members Wendell and Vickie Bell, and Barnhart couldn’t help but build a relationship with them. It didn’t take him long to understand why they were always around.”What we began to realize is that they’ve invested in the lives of all these young people,” Barnhart said.On Sunday, UK Athletics recognized that investment with the grand opening of the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex before a women’s and men’s soccer doubleheader.”It’s a really, really cool day,” Barnhart said at a ceremony attended by President Eli Capilouto, coaches and players from both teams and fans. “We get to dedicate our soccer complex to Wendell and Vickie. After all the contributions they’ve made, we tried to find something that would give them the credit they deserve for all the things they’ve done.”The new $7.7 million complex houses separate facilities for both soccer programs, with team rooms, lounges, locker-room areas, coaching offices and new grandstand.”You have no idea how much this means for us,” women’s soccer senior Arin Gilliland said. “Being here for the last four years, I’ve gotten to see a change from aluminum bleachers to this amazing facility. We have the best field in the SEC. Now we have the best facility.”The women’s soccer team is in the midst of the best years in school history under Jon Lipsitz, while Johan Cedergren is building the men’s program in his third season. Walking through a typical visit when he hosts a recruit, Cedergren talked about what the new facility means to that process.”At the end, it’s down to me and they’re basically, ‘Where can I sign?’ ” Cedergren said. “As a men’s soccer program to have the stuff that we have here is absolutely mind-blowing.”The Bells enjoy being a part of it all.”We’ve been very involved with the program for so many years and I was talking with Dr. Capilouto and Mary Lynn,” Wendell Bell said. “Just the transformation academically and athletically that we have seen and the changes over those years are just amazing. And the vision going forward.”As meaningful as the new soccer facility made possible by the Bells is to that vision, their meaning to UK Athletics goes far deeper. That’s why the two teams presented jerseys to the Bells and the ball used to score the first regular-season goal in the Bell Soccer Complex on Friday.”Obviously something like this doesn’t happen without the money,” Lipsitz said. “It takes money to do these things and we know they’ve been incredibly generous. But I literally made a note and I wrote down a dollar sign and I crossed it out and I drew a heart. Because that is my first thought when I think about them.”That makes the tribute to the Bells unveiled on Sunday all the more fitting.After the speeches were done, Barnhart led the Bells outside, where a new bell and plaque were unveiled next to the field as a surprise. The bell will ring after each UK goal, creating a new tradition that will be part of all game days to come.

Within 14 minutes in the first game after the stadium’s dedication, the bell rang after a Jade Klump goal. The Wildcats would add two more from Courtney Raetzman and Alex Carter in a 3-0 victory, moving to 3-1 on the season in the process.”We talk about how important it is to leave a legacy,” Lipsitz said. “This is the beginning of a new legacy for our players to leave and be able to come back years from now and say, ‘Remember when? Remember when we started everything here with the new stadium?’ “It’s just so special having Wendell and Vickie here and Mitch and the administration and Dr. Capilouto. You can’t really ask more than for the environment we had here today.”In the nightcap, the men’s soccer team leveled its record at 1-1 with a 2-0 win over Belmont. After dominating play in a scoreless first half, Kristoffer Tollefsen and Ryan Creel scored UK’s first goals of the season and Callum Irving posted a shutout.”It felt really good, the first home game of the season,” Creel said. “Coach said, ‘We gotta ring that bell today.’ “”I just think that with all the people here, opening weekend, you want to put on a good show,” Cedergren said. “And I thought that the guys were really, really good today.”The Bells were there for all 180 minutes of action on a rainy day, cheering passionately, which is exactly what anyone who knows the Bells and what’s important to them would expect.”We’ve been blessed,” Wendell Bell said, “but truly for us we’re just appreciative that we have the opportunity to invest in this program and make an impact on these kids because, at the end of the day, that’s what counts.”