LINDEN — To see how much soccer has grown at North Montgomery, one only has to look at the upgraded facility. No single person has had a greater impact on the growth of soccer than Julie Hodges.
She became the head girls coach 19 years ago, and recently notched her 100th win as a Charger.
Hodges credits her players for the best memories and her reason for staying all these years.
“When I first came, we played where the JV baseball field is now and it was just a field,” Hodges said. “Today we have a soccer complex with two nice fields, lights and bleachers. We have nearly 300 youth participating in spring soccer, and we have middle school teams that are 30 players deep. And we have had complete JV and varsity rosters for nine years. It just shows you how much soccer has grown at North Montgomery.”
Hodges grew up playing soccer in Merrillville and played collegiately at St. Joseph’s College. Her first coaching win was in 2006 against South Vermillion. Her milestone 100th victory came Sept. 5 at Twin Lakes.
When reflecting on her 19 years of coaching, Hodges cannot help but think about all the nearly 200 Charger soccer players she has coached.
“To win 100 games just means I have been here a long time,” Hodges said. “Honestly, what matters more to me is to be a positive influence for these girls later in life. Just being able to say I have 100 wins means I have been around long enough to help shape some girls into being productive citizens.”
Her success in relationship building is proven with many of the players keeping in touch.
“The players know they can come back, and I am there for them,” Hodges said. “Hopefully they can learn life lessons. Soccer is a rocky game and life is a rocky thing. There are peaks and valley and I try to use the game of soccer just to prepare them for life.”
Hodges has had many former players come back to be an assistant coach. Present assistant coach Bailey Carpenter, who in Hodges’ second year scored a goal to give North Montgomery its first-ever Sagamore Athletic Conference win against Lebanon, has helped Hodges for eight seasons. She testified to what Hodges has meant to her and so many players.
“One hundred wins doesn’t just represent the number of wins, it’s about the years of dedication that she has poured into the program and the lives of the hundreds of athletes that have passed through the program,” Carpenter said. “It is almost unheard of these days, in any sport, for a coach to stick around for 19 seasons.”
“It represents the hundreds of conversations she’s had with crying teenage girls. It represents the hundreds of academic interventions that have been made to make sure girls take care of business in the classroom. It represents the hundreds of positive interactions she has had with parents and opposing teams.”
Hodges also credits her success to the support she has received from the school board and school administrators.
North Montgomery athletic director Matt Merica appreciates Hodges. He mentioned his soccer coach is one of the longest tenured coaches in this part of Indiana.
“You do not see many soccer coaches in our area that have been coaching as long as Julie has,” Merica said. “She has always run the girls’ soccer program the right way. She is a true role model that all student looks up to. Her dedication and passion for Charger soccer is unmatched.”
Hodges, who teaches health and physical education at the high school, does not plan to stop coaching soon and she has a vision of more improvement. She does realize the soccer program goes beyond her accomplishments.
“To see what impact this program can have on students from kindergarten to high school and beyond to college has been awesome to watch,” Hodges said.
