ATLANTA—Several priests from the Archdiocese of Atlanta have traded in their clerics for cleats, shorts and T-shirts once a week to join together to promote vocations and to stay in shape.

The Padres, a soccer team currently made up of 15 priests, will play their first game Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church soccer fields, located at 2855 Briarcliff Road. The priests will play against volunteer soccer players from a local Catholic high school and are encouraging members of the archdiocese to come and support their team.

The soccer team is the brainchild of Father Kevin Peek, parochial vicar at Holy Trinity Church in Peachtree City.

The team’s mission is to play against Catholic high school soccer players as a way to promote vocations. The priests come from all corners of the archdiocese, including Gainesville, Carrollton, Kennesaw and Atlanta. Most are not experienced soccer players, having only played in high school or on recreational teams when they were younger, but all of them have a goal of showing the youth that they are “regular guys” in hopes that some would want to follow in their footsteps.

Father Peek, a native Atlantan, who played soccer for IHM School and has also coached several recreational and school teams, said that in addition to promoting vocations, he also wanted to provide the priests of the archdiocese a way to stay healthy and in shape.

In addition to Father Peek, members include Father Peter Boulos, pastor of St. Joseph’s Maronite Church, Atlanta; Father John Curran, LC, chaplain of Pinecrest Academy, Cumming; Father Bob Frederick and Father Pedro Poloche-Rodriguez, parochial vicars at St. Jude the Apostle Church, Atlanta; Father John Farrelly, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Carrollton; Father Victor Galier, parochial vicar at Holy Spirit Church, Atlanta; Father John Hopkins, LC, chaplain of The Donnellan School, Atlanta; Father Guyma Noel, parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Church, Atlanta; Father Adrian Pleus, parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena Church, Kennesaw; Father Scott Reilly, LC, chaplain of St. Pius X High School, Atlanta; Father Balappa Selvaraj, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church, Blairsville; Father Fabio Sotelo-Peña, parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta; Father Jesus-David Trujillo-Luna, parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Alpharetta; and Father Serge Ward, pastor of St. Michael’s Church, Gainesville.

Priests or seminarians interested in joining the team may call Marian Spencer at (770) 486-0538.