- April 19, 2024
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Julian Botella, 22, has played competitive soccer since he was 9. He has played in Colombia and Holland, Florida and Kentucky — all while battling multiple sclerosis.
It was a dreadfully hot weekend game many years ago. Julian Botella was about 13 years old, playing for Apollo United, an Ormond Beach-based soccer club.
Botella stepped up to take a free kick, and right as he set his plant foot to strike the ball with his powerful left leg, he missed the ball completely and fell over.
Players on the field laughed; but it was no laughing matter for Botella. At first, he thought it was dehydration or a heat-related injury. However, days later, Botella was still vomiting, and his mother, Maria, decided it was time to take him to the doctor.
“I was so dizzy and walking sideways,” Botella recalled in an interview Monday afternoon. “I couldn’t get out of bed for days.”
Botella’s family doctor suggested that he visit Nemours, in Jacksonville, a get a CT Scan.
The diagnosis wasn’t what Botella wanted to hear.
Doctors found scarring and lesions on his brain and diagnosed him with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. MS is caused by damage to the myelin sheath, which is the protective covering that surrounds nerve cells.
Botella has been playing soccer despite his condition ever since, and it rarely slows him down. But it has given him a different outlook on life.
“I live my life every day telling myself I don’t have MS,” he said. “I’m normal.”
Recreational league to an Osprey
Botella began kicking around a soccer ball at age 6, when he was living in Colombia’s capital city, Bogota.
He played around with his grandfather, who was coaching a men’s league team at the time.
“That’s when I got attached,” he said.
At 9, Botella moved to Orlando. A year later, he relocated to Palm Coast, where he eventually joined Apollo United. He played with Apollo until joining Deltona Azzurri, where he helped lead the club team to the Sweet 16 in the State Cup tournament and a top 10 ranking in the state.
Botella then played for Flagler Palm Coast High School.
His senior year, he was name the Daytona Beach News-Journal Player of the Year, leading the team to a 23-0-2 record and a place in the regional semifinals. Botella tallied 20 goals and 22 assists while lettering all four years of high school, predominately playing center midfielder and defense.
After graduating high school, Botella signed a scholarship to Asbury University, in Wilmore, Ky., a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. He earned First-Team All-Region honors as a freshman with Asbury, but after his sophomore season, he decided it was time to change schools. He was a full-time starter his first two seasons.
“I knew I could play Division I soccer,” Botella said. “But a large part of it was that I definitely missed home.”
Following a few phone calls, Botella earned himself a tryout in August 2010 with Division I University of North Florida.
He made the team as a starter and has since been named captain.
Now, with a new coach and about 11 incoming freshman, Botella wants to help put UNF on the collegiate map in soccer.
Becoming a Destroyer
When Botella finished his junior season as an Osprey, he figured it would be a great opportunity to at least try out for the FC Jax Destroyers, a member of the United Soccer Leagues, and a semiprofessional team that competes in the Premier Development League.
“I wanted to at least be able to train with the team,” Botella said, recalling how unsure he felt that he would make it.
However, Botella was selected, and has started three games so far in the team’s inaugural season.
Though the Destroyers have a 1-5-4 record, Botella said the experience has greatly improved his level of play.
There is no paycheck associated with playing PDL, but Botella said it’s all about preparing for the next step.
And as he wraps up his summer and heads into his final collegiate season, Botella plans to go wherever the ride takes him.
“Anything that I get — a call or any information — I’ll try,” he said.
But one thing is for sure: He will push his body to the limit.
“I’ll never give up on my dreams,” he said. “From the day I was diagnosed with MS, I knew I couldn’t let that affect the one thing I love — soccer.”
