Mercer’s club soccer team has become highly competitive with a total of 28 members for the upcoming season. With such a large roster, members of the team are hopeful for a successful season.
One of the team captains, Caleb Luo-Gardner ‘26, is going on his third year with club soccer and shared how important the team’s ability to gel will be as only 18 of the 29 will be able to play on the field.
“We have big depth in every position this year compared to the past two years I've been playing with club soccer,” Luo-Gardner said. “Just really getting the rotation process down is going to be very big for us this year solely because everyone's playing at a very high level.”
Emotions are running high this season as the first game approaches. For Gentry Arnette '27, this will be his second year playing on the team and much has already changed from the previous season.
“Definitely excited to kind of get playing again. I think for a lot of us, it's the most competitive way we play at this point so it's fun to get back out there and play different teams,” Arnette said.
The team will also be traveling this year, as Arnette explained. There is little worry as sometimes getting the players to the game becomes difficult as they have to provide their own transportation and cover personal expenses to away games. Overall, the team is ready for the season, as Luo-Gardener explains.
“We're really excited and we're ready to compete. There's a lot of healthy internal competition. Just everyone trying to prove to the [executive] board that they can play and contribute to the team,” Luo-Gardner said. “Going back, we have so many more players that are very good, there's never a guarantee that you'll be able to play one game. Even if you started the previous one, you may not play the next one.”
Mercer competed against various schools last year, such as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Georgia College and Georgia Southern, as the program continued to grow. This year, Mercer will compete in the Southeastern Collegiate Soccer League. The team is excited for the matchups they have this year, especially against Georgia College. For Arnette, his favorite memory from last season was the matchup against Georgia College, when Mercer beat the Bobcats, 2-0.
“It was at the end of the season. It was pretty fun because it was just a really competitive game. It was really fun. Everybody was super excited and we kind of came without our full lineup, so we were kind of moving guys around and we still won,” according to Arnette.
The first game of the season, which was scheduled for mid-September, has not yet been rescheduled.
Alisha Mitchell '26 is majoring in Journalism and Political Science at Mercer University. She is a part of the Student Government Association and works for Mercer’s Undergraduate Admissions office. Alisha is highly involved on campus and loves writing for The Cluster. When she isn't writing or working, she enjoys sitting outside in nature or thrifting with friends.
