Soccer has always been a part of Kurtis Moffitt’s life.

Growing up in Los Angeles, and spending most of his primary and college years in Texas, soccer was more in the forefront than in Greene County. But the sport has made tremendous strides in the area since the Greene County Soccer Association started in the late 1990s.

Eastern Greene, Bloomfield, and White River Valley all have high school teams. And they’ve grown more successful over the years.

Eastern Greene is the latest of those programs to show positive gains.

Moffitt, along with Tracey Crane, helped start the youth league in Eastern Greene, and eventually a junior high program in 2021. That caught the attention of the Eastern Greene School Board.

“The school board voted in October 2022 to have a (coed) program, and all the kids were excited,” Moffitt recalled.

The first season was 2023.

Moffitt played high school soccer in Texas, and collegiately at Dallas Christian College. He taught eighth grade at Eastern Greene before leaving to work for a subcontractor for Crane. He agreed to coach the Thunderbirds’ varsity program.

Why did he want to start the soccer program for the Eastern Greene area students?

“My kids played soccer. I coached them in soccer in Bloomington. There were kids who would come to me in the classroom after PE and they were just like, please get a soccer team together,” Moffitt recalled. “After a few years of them just playing around, we started a junior high team. That took off really well in 2021 and that was a blast.”

Then it came to a point for EG students, who loved soccer, to make a decision before entering high school. Do they transfer to another school to continue playing the sport they love?

“If that’s what they wanted to do ... that’s what my child was going to do. I coached one year at Bloomfield, their very first year in 2018,” Moffitt said. “I coached the high school program because I thought possibly my son would end up going there.”

But the EG School Board said yes to soccer.

The current Thunderbirds were 6-8 through Saturday’s game with Owen Valley. They won one game in 2023, with eight losses and three ties. In 2024, they finished 4- 9-2. And last season, Eastern Greene was 8-7-2.

A highlight so far for the Thunderbirds was last year’s WRV Sectional. They beat Mitchell and Lighthouse Christian to advance to the title game against the Wolverines. They lost, but what Moffitt saw after the match was encouraging.

“My team came off (the pitch) crying. The seniors were hurting. The juniors, sophomores and freshmen, they were all determined. They were saying we’re coming back next year, so it just makes it really worth it,” Moffitt recalled.

This year’s senior class, led by Ethan Moffitt and Griff Hengeveld, were members of the first junior high team.

Moffitt and Hengeveld have combined for 26 goals so far this season (going into the Sept. 23 match with Shoals).

“We’re starting to see a lot of amazing things,” Moffitt said. “The kids coming in, the player talent and development, has been incredible. Some of these kids who are right now juniors, they were sixth graders when we first started, and they could kick the ball only like 5 or 10 feet. Now they’re kicking 30 yards.”

Eastern Greene received a donation from Carl and Marcy Cook of Bloomington to help build the soccer complex at the school.

“Their daughter played for me (in a Bloomington league). We played a game against Mitchell, and we won big, and they said, ‘We’d like to build a soccer field for you guys’,” Moffitt recalled.

The donation paid for the field (the sod came from the University of Notre Dame), a net, and water hook-up for irrigation.

“I won grants and got donations for the scoreboard,” Moffitt said. “One day we’ll have a fence, lights, and sound.”

Moffitt has decided this year will be his last as head coach. He’s confident whoever takes over, the Thunderbirds will continue their growth. Three assistant coaches have helped him build the program — Joey Collins, Andrew Drummond (a former standout athlete for EG), and Matt Wafford.

“Hopefully those guys will just take it and run with it,” Moffitt said.

Moffitt, who lives in the Solsberry area, loves Greene County. He’s been a soccer advocate all his life and has continued that locally.

The EG youth teams, which are part of the Greene County Soccer Association, attend Indiana University soccer matches routinely. Moffitt and others support the sport by talking to anyone who is willing to listen.

“Boys can play. Girls can play. Tall kids can play. Short kids can play. Anybody can play. I love soccer and I’m not against any sports. I played multiple sports growing up but seeing how they’ve developed through all this (is rewarding),” Moffitt said.

“It’s been great to see it going so well. I’ve seen their parents learn the rules, the parents understanding and asking me questions (about soccer). It’s just so much fun.”

How would Moffitt convince enthusiasts of other sports that soccer is just as fascinating? He would encourage them to come to a match and see for themselves.

“We have a lot of grandparents on the sidelines (watching), and I’ve got a lot of friends from church who come and watch. They don’t have anybody involved in these games,” he said.

Eastern greene soccer player ethan moffitt

And when the Thunderbirds execute a play correctly and it results in a goal, Moffitt says it’s a thing of beauty.

“Recently in one of our games we had a goalie who didn’t kick the ball, he threw the ball. He threw the ball about 20 yards, and our player trapped the ball, turned with the ball, and beat a guy. He passed the ball to another player in the middle of the field and then he kept running so the player in the middle field played it back to him then he crossed the ball. My son (Ethan) trapped it and shot it and scored,” Moffitt said.

“So, I guess it was like the architecture, the beauty, the orchestrated effort of how they move this ball up the field within 30 seconds.

“When you see those moments, a kid dribbling up crossing a ball and the kids hitting it into the goal ... there’s more than just watching the little kids kick the ball and run around in a big mob. It’s so great when you see them orchestrate a play like that. That’s how I would explain soccer.”

This year’s Class A Sectional 45 will be at Mitchell, and the Thunderbirds will be joined by Bloomfield, Lighthouse Christian Academy, Mitchell, Seven Oaks Classical School, Shoals, and White River Valley.

a sectional draw watch party was held for players.

Play will begin the week of Oct. 5.

The pairings:

• Match 1: Eastern Greene vs. Seven Oaks

• Match 2: Lighthouse Christian vs. Mitchell

• Match 3: White River Valley vs. Shoals

• Match 4: Bloomfield vs. M1 winner.

• Match 5: M2 winner vs. M3 winner.

• Championship: M4 winner vs. M5 winner

Moffitt is confident the Thunderbirds have a good chance of winning the title.

“We’ve been playing with injuries this year, but I think when October comes, everybody will be almost 100 percent,” Moffitt said. “I think we’re just trying to stay healthy for sectional. I’m like 90% sure we can win the sectional.”