The Schartner family of Royal Palm Beach are dedicated to the sport of soccer. Luke and Jenny Schartner are the parents of four passionate, dedicated and talented soccer players — Elena (Ellie), 17; Kira, 15; Jax, 12; and Josiah, 11. Soccer is such a big part of their lives. The children are the third generation of soccer players in the Schartner family.
Luke played high school soccer in Illinois, and for the last 19 years has been the head coach of the boys varsity soccer team at Berean Christian School, where Ellie, Kira and Jax are currently enrolled, while Josiah is home schooled. For the last few years, Luke has also been a coach for the Royal Palm Beach Strikers travel soccer club, which is based at the Katz Soccer Complex.
Meanwhile, Luke’s father, Mark Schartner, has a long track record in the sport. He played college soccer at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Mark has also been an assistant coach for Luke for many years at Berean. Mark’s affiliation with soccer can best be measured in decades rather than years. Mark became the head men’s soccer coach at Trinity in 1973, just a year after earning his bachelor’s degree in physical education teaching and coaching from Trinity.
During his 13 seasons at the helm of the Trinity’s soccer program, Mark coached the Trojans to the 1974 National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Championship, the first national title in any sport in school history. Not surprisingly, the varsity soccer field at Trinity is now named Schartner Field. Mark was inducted into the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Lake County (Illinois) Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
If you ask Ellie, her grandfather — affectionately known as Papa Schartner — may well be the most passionate soccer fan in the entire family. He’s now 72, but he has the soccer energy of a teenager.
Ellie, Kira and Jax play soccer at Berean, as well as for the Royal Palm Beach Strikers and the Olympic Development Program (ODP). Josiah is too young to play ODP soccer, but don’t be surprised if he gets selected to follow this competitive soccer path in the not-too-distant future. Currently, Ellie and Kira are key members of the girls varsity soccer team at Berean, coached by Jon Iverson. And, Jax plays for the Berean middle school soccer team, coached by Richard Miller.
As for Ellie, currently a high school junior at Berean, she is committed to play collegiate soccer at Palm Beach Atlantic University, which is an NCAA Division II program. Her commitment to the school will become official this fall when she signs her letter of intent. She’s thrilled about continuing her soccer-playing career at Palm Beach Atlantic but knows the skill level of her collegiate teammates and opponents will be at a higher level. Kira has similar collegiate soccer aspirations.
Ellie is thrilled to have collegiate soccer in her future, especially with it being a local experience, which will allow her family to come watch her play home games.
“Soccer has had a great legacy in our family,” she said.
In order to get experience against collegiate competition, Ellie and Kira, a sophomore at Berean, are also playing matches for Tiki Taka, which is an invitation-only squad of talented high-school-age players from Florida who play competitive friendly matches against female collegiate teams, usually junior colleges, NAIA and NCAA Division II squads around Florida during their collegiate offseason.
Whether it’s playing soccer games during the high school season, against travel teams or at the ODP level, the Schartner family continues to confirm its position among the first families of soccer in the western communities.
