Somewhere along the line, Julie Scheidler made a conscious choice. The Bishop Chatard senior's affection for soccer turned into a decision to make it her game.

The fourth of six children, she grew up with two older brothers and an older sister who were into soccer. One of her earliest memories is of older brother Matt teaching her how to serve a ball across the field. Her other older brother, Tim, is an assistant coach at Chatard.

Her older sister, Amy, was a senior at Chatard when Julie was a freshman. Even when Julie was small, soccer was part of her daily life.

"It was awesome; we were always playing around," Julie said. "I kind of got dragged to all the games growing up. My mom says I always had a ball with me and was always juggling a ball."

Scheidler became a high school star, setting scoring records and leading Chatard into the state rankings four consecutive seasons. The 5-4 forward, who is headed to Notre Dame, was selected as The Star's Super Team Player of the Year.

Playing both forward and midfield this fall, Scheidler scored 20 goals to go with 11 assists in 16 games. She finished as the Trojans' career leader in goals (73), assists (37) and total points (183). The previous career points record was 116.

"She's the ultimate team player," Chatard coach Ben Reilly said. "She will do whatever she needs to do to be successful. She always puts the team first."

Scheidler was 6 when her parents, Bill and Colleen -- both Chatard graduates -- moved the family back to the Indianapolis area from the Chicago suburbs. Scheidler started playing in Carmel Dad's Club leagues and later for Carmel United Crossfire, staying with the same team since age 8.

"She is self-motivated," her dad said. "As parents, we never had to tell her, 'Get yourself ready.' She always wanted to be there 30 minutes before everyone else."

Scheidler's self-motivation went beyond the field. She has a 4.4 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and headed into the fall ranked fourth out of a senior class of 211. She's a member of the student council, retreat team, liturgy committee and student ambassadors.

She's leaning toward a science-related major at Notre Dame.

Scheidler has been selected to try out for several invitation-only, national-level soccer teams.

In her first few years of playing youth soccer in Carmel, one of her coaches asked each player to write down their goals. One of Scheidler's was, "Play soccer at Notre Dame."

Her older brother Matt, a grandfather and aunts and uncles attended Notre Dame, so it was a natural place for her. The Irish are currently unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the nation.

"You always hear, 'You can't go wrong with Notre Dame academically,' and when I found out they're as good as they are at soccer, it made it even more awesome," Scheidler said. "When I go to Notre Dame, I get this feeling I don't get anywhere else.

"It's an awesome feeling. I'm nervous thinking about playing for the No. 1 team, but again, when you play with people that good, you pick up skills. Hopefully, I'll fit in and grow as a player."

As if anyone expects anything different.