South High freshman soccer players Drew Birkenholz, Paige Spector, Mohammad Barakat, and Adam Scheurer have taken their talents from the South High fields to the world of indoor soccer.
Birkenholz led the freshman boys’ soccer team with 11 goals. Barakat was the second-leading scorer on the team with 4 goals.
Scheurer was tied with 3 other players with one goal.
Spector has yet to play this season because the girls’ soccer season has yet to begin.
The team is still finalizing its roster before Jan. 1, But they have found their core to build around for the upcoming season.
The positions so far for the club have Barakat as a striker, Birkenholtz also as a striker, and Spector as another striker for the club.
Scheurer follows them at midfield.
In the coming weeks, the club is expected to fill out the rest of the positions for their debut at Vetta Sports on Jan. 1.
Barakat explained the background behind the team’s name–King Julian FC.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t have Julian (Aguilar) on the team so we thought the next best bet was to make him our mascot,” Barakat said. “We had a vote and the majority of the votes were either black and pink or black on white, and we might do that with Julian’s face on the shirt.”
The league will start on Jan. 1 at Vetta Sports in Manchester.
Birkenholz explained his motivation for joining the team.
“I wanted to try something new and I haven’t played Vetta in forever and it would be nice for a change of pace,” he said.
The members of King Julian FC shared differing motives for joining.
“One day I got added to a group chat and they were talking about making a Vetta team and all of us supported the idea,” Birkenholz said.
Scheurer commented on why he joined the team.
“I joined because it’s something to do in the offseason and my friends joined,” he said.
Different schools in Parkway and around the area have indoor soccer teams that begin every year.
King Julian FC’s competition will be strong. Birkenholz commented about the format of the team,
“The unique thing about this team is that it is a mix of boys and girls,” he said.
As one of the girls on the team, Spector commented about the competition she thinks the team will face.
“I don’t really know them too well I just know there are a couple of other schools in the Parkway District that are making an indoor team too,” Spector said.
Birkenholz also had this to say about the competition
“It’s still gonna be good. I don’t really know what our competition is gonna look like but it will be a mix of boys and girls and it’s gonna be very physical and kinda tough,” he said.
