Julian Birge can’t remember a time before soccer. Ever since his parents signed him up for a local team at four years old, he’s been hooked. For him, the best part of the game was getting to be a teammate. He loved competing and working together to achieve something greater than just himself.
As he got older, his passion grew along with his skills. As a high school freshman, he started on East Lansing’s JV team, working up the ranks to varsity by junior year. From there, he decided to continue his career at Alma College, eventually going semi-pro.
But it wasn’t until 2017, after a year of trying to coach the Alma teammates he once played beside, that something changed. That was the year he came back to East Lansing—not as a player, but as an assistant coach. That was the year he fell in love with coaching.
“Just seeing the way my players came together and responded to me, I felt supported and accepted,” Birge said. “You develop these connections with your players. You really want the best for them. It almost made me feel this greater life purpose.
“It just became something that I felt like I was meant to do.”
Coaching became a way to give back to the sport that had given him so much. For Birge, the most impactful thing a coach can do is simply believe in their players, something that helped him grow early on in his playing career.
“[My coaches] gave me the confidence to be a player that I didn’t know that I could become,” Birge said. “I know leaving an impact like that on all my players is unrealistic. But as long as I can leave some sort of positive impact on them, that’s my goal, because they leave a positive impact on me.”
Birge has now been with the program for eight years as the boys’ and girls’ varsity assistant coach. He’s coached alongside varsity head coach Jeff Lyon for all of them.
Over the years, Lyon has seen Birge’s evolution firsthand—from coaching him as a high school freshman to now partnering with him on the sidelines as a fellow coach.
“He always demonstrated the love of the game,” Lyon said. “I never had to push his motivation or passion. He communicates to players in a way that is comforting and instructive, but also holds the team accountable. He was one of my favorite players to coach.”
However, this season will be Birge’s last with East Lansing.
In his eight years as an assistant coach, he’s seen players come and go, watched defeating losses and been part of riveting wins.
But having gone through it all, he’s left with only gratitude.
“I feel so much pride in my players’ success,” Birge said. “Watching them improve and succeed has been so rewarding. It just fills me with joy and makes me want to work harder for them.”
One of those players is Zoe Hagan (12), who has been the starting goalkeeper for the girls’ varsity team for four years. Having been coached by Birge all of her high school career, she can confidently say that he is one of the most genuine coaches she’s ever had.
Whether it’s joining in on drills and sharing laughs at practice or losing his voice from passionately yelling from the bench, he’s brought a dynamic blend of energy, competitive spirit and fun that fuels the team’s culture.
“You can tell he cares a lot about us as a program– and just as people,” Hagan said. “He’s opened my eyes to the importance of being a good teammate throughout thick and thin. I think that he’s impacted my love for playing the game of soccer, just because you see how much he loves playing it.”
Birge has had the same effect on girls’ varsity center back, Peyton Speakes (12). After moving to East Lansing from Ohio halfway through her sophomore year, she didn’t know what the team would look like. But now, as a senior, she feels as if she couldn’t have asked for a better coach.
“Julian is someone who cares deeply for not just the game, but who he’s coaching,” Speakes said. “You can just see it by how he treats us, the feedback he gives, and the time he spends with us as a team. I feel like I care deeply about how I speak and who I am towards everyone, just from having him as a role model.”
Birge currently lives with his fiancée in Wixom and has been making the one-hour commute back and forth daily. Having grown up in East Lansing and spent years working as a middle school counselor there, Birge knew that eventually he would have to move on to the next phase in his life.
Still, the thought of giving up his role as assistant coach has made it hard to walk away.
“I love coaching this team,” Birge said. “I love all the players. It’s very bittersweet- It’s gonna make me super sad to leave, but I’m also excited for my next chapter.”
While he’s unsure what exactly his next chapter will look like, he knows that he wants coaching to be a part of his life for years to come. And although the program won’t feel the same without him, the impact he’s left on his players will always remain.
“Losing him as a coach and just as a person, it will definitely feel a lot different,” Speakes said. “I know as a program we’ll get through it, but it just feels like losing a part of East Lansing.”
