There are 12 different sports teams at Pike Liberal Arts School.

And now, there is about to be one more – again.

It has been two years since PLAS has had a soccer team, but all that has been erased thanks to the resurrection of the program.

“There really wasn’t much interest [the past few years],” volunteer head coach Ken Labrant said. “Or at least not enough players to make a team.”

However, thanks to some “recruiting” as Labrant put it during the past couple of months he was able to find a group of kids who were not only interested in playing but dedicated to getting a team started up once more.

“We got things started by spreading word of mouth and gauging the interest of the students.

“Basically, the kids came out of the woodwork,” he added.

The co-ed team is composed of 16 players constructed from seventh graders to seniors.

“We are a very young team,” the coach said.

“There are four players from the last soccer team and 12 others who are basically new to the game.”

The Patriots were able to kick off its season in big way on Monday night thanks to its 5-1 victory over Tuscaloosa Academy.

“It was a big win for us,” LaBrant said.

“[Tuscaloosa] is a pretty good team and it was a good way to measure what kind of team we have in a short amount of time.

“If the team plays like it did [against Tuscaloosa] they will be able to hang with most of the other teams, if not all, on our schedule,” he added.

One advantage that LaBrant has with this team is his familiarity with some of the players on the team thanks coaching recreation soccer, something he said will help get the program headed in the right direction.

“This is uncharted territory for us,” he said. “We don’t really know about a lot of the other teams.”

“We have to learn to play together learn to play aggressive and take wins when we can.

“We have had really positive response from both the players and the parents. Everyone is excited about this and we are going to continue to work hard and get better along the way,” LaBrant said.