- April 24, 2024
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Justin Merkel’s first soccer memory is backdropped by an Ormond Beach garage. He and his twin sister Kayla, aged 8, each put on a fresh pair of soccer cleats their mom, Kim Merkel had just purchased from “some goofy store” and started booting the ball across the pavement.
“We had no idea what to do, but we did that for like an hour, and it was fun,” he said. “We played on the concrete, didn't care, ruined the studs or whatever — but that's what we did.”
These days, the Merkels’ footie workouts contain decidedly more focus. The twins, who graduated from Seabreeze High School in May, are both playing college soccer this fall. Justin arrived Tuesday at Limestone College (South Carolina), while Kayla is staying closer to home to play for Embry-Riddle University.
The epiphanies came at different times. Kayla realized she could play college soccer when she made the Sandcrabs varsity squad as a freshman, becoming an immediate scoring threat. By her sophomore year, she helped Seabreeze to a district title. Justin, who played right-midfield for Seabreeze, took a little longer to realize his potential and desire to play at the next level.
“Toward the end of my junior season, when I started getting two or three assists per game and leading the team to wins, I realized I didn't want to stop playing soccer yet,” he said. “So, I kept training five days out of the week — for hours. I gave it everything I had to get picked up by some team. I didn't care where it was, I just wanted to play in college.”
Nik Efremoski coached both siblings, Kayla at the Ormond Beach Soccer Club and Justin at Seabreeze. There are differences in the siblings’ skill sets; Justin is a heady midfielder who led Seabreeze in assists the last two seasons, while Kayla is a fleet-footed forward. The intangibles are where the most noticeable crossover occurs.
“You can tell that they’re brother and sister, because their attitudes are both the same,” Efremoski said. “If you asked them to play goalkeeper for the team, they'd do it.”
When the Merkels moved to Ormond from Pennsylvania when the twins were 8, soccer was just one of many sports they tried out. Both participated in basketball, and Justin played baseball while Kayla played softball. Soccer is “just the one we both stuck with,” Kayla Merkel said. As the pair became more serious about their lives on the pitch, the whole family got in on the act.
Soccer “pretty much runs our lives now,” Justin Merkel said. “It didn't used to, but when Kayla and I started progressing and getting a lot better toward the end of high school, it just kind of took over everything. My mom got into it, and my dad watches games every night on TV. We breathe it.”
It’s safe to say Kim Merkel knows where to find soccer performance footwear by now. She was an assistant coach for Seabreeze’s varsity girls team during Kayla’s time there and will take over as head coach this fall.
Both of her kids will be forced to adapt as they begin their college careers, though. Limestone recruited Justin to play right back, a spot that won’t afford him as many attacking opportunities as he’s accustomed to. Liam McIlhatton coached Kayla with Ormond Beach’s 18U squad and will work with her again as an assistant coach for the Eagles. McIlhatton “can’t really remember her having a bad game for me,” but added she needs to be more vocal and catch up to players who’ve been playing at a higher level for longer.
The enhanced speed and technical aspects of the college game aren’t the only changes the Merkels will have to embrace. After 18 years spent attending one another’s games, sharing the same friend groups, and seeing each other every day, they’ll have to deal with being apart. Seven hours and 475 miles apart.
“We don't really talk about it, because it's just weird,” Kayla Merkel said. “I've seen him every single day of my life since we were born, and now he's seven hours away. It's very different from what we're both used to, and it's going to be a big adjustment.”
To stay in shape this summer, twin brother and twin sister made an early-morning habit of conditioning at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex. Both had already received scripted workouts from their respective college coaches, so they’d alternate routines one-for-one. They ran 120-yard sprints, 50s. Kim occasionally tagged along to time them.
Just like with those first fledging passes in the garage, the future is uncertain. But, soccer’s what these twins do. And it’s fun.
