Kyle Parmley
Oak Mountain Soccer
Julia Pack scored 18 goals and 17 assists in 2016, leading Oak Mountain to the second round of the playoffs.
There are three criteria for the Gatorade State Player of the Year award: athletic achievement, academic excellence and exemplary character.
Oak Mountain’s Julia Pack won the Gatorade Alabama Girls Soccer Player of the Year award for the 2015-16 school year. It’s quite an accomplishment for anyone, but especially a sophomore.
“I think it’s really cool because usually they give it to a senior. Winning it as a sophomore is really big and exciting,” Pack said.
Pack outweighed her competition not just on the field, but was at the top of the charts in all three award categories.
She scored 18 goals and pitched in 17 assists, as her team put together a 23-4-1 record and advanced to the second round of the Class 7A state playoffs.
“Julia, she has incredible vision,” said David DiPiazza, her head coach at Oak Mountain. “How she sees the game unfold is incredible. It’s at a higher level than most of the people we’re playing with.”
In the classroom, she maintains a GPA of 4.31, and took all honors classes on top of an Advanced Placement course. She said she plans to increase that number next year, while keeping her grades near the top of the charts.
Her character comes to light when you ask people about her. DiPiazza has “never heard anybody say a bad thing about her,” which he said is far more important than anything she does on the soccer field.
Pack was on the Eagles’ state championship team in 2015 as a freshman, and said she hopes to match that in her final two years at Oak Mountain. She gave a lot of credit to her surrounding talent for winning her award.
“It’s really encouraging, just going to school with a bunch of great players and great coaches and having that winning record; that’s definitely helped,” she said.
Aside from her teammates, Pack also showered praise on DiPiazza, who has taken the head coaching job for the women’s soccer team at Birmingham-Southern College.
“He has had that coaching experience for a long time, so he understands, and he tries really hard to help us get better,” Pack said.
There will be some hurdles for Pack and the Eagles next year, welcoming in a new coach — whoever that may be — and replacing some of the team’s leaders. A handful of productive seniors will open up spots for younger players to fill the gap and make an impact.
Pack has verbally committed to play for coach Karen Hoppa at Auburn University after high school, citing the family atmosphere and its proximity to home — not too close, but not too far.
She said she’ll be ready for the next level, because of who she faces on a regular basis in the area.
“The Birmingham area is where the best pool of players is,” she said. “The club teams are here in Birmingham. There are other people from other places, but the clubs definitely impact that.”
