If you want to understand what the top end of American college sport looks like, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a good place to stand. At the time of our visit, the Tar Heels had won 46 NCAA Division 1 team national championships across seven sports. The alumni list runs from Michael Jordan to Mia Hamm.
The women's soccer program is the most decorated in the country - 21 of the 38 NCAA national championships played to that point, and 23 of 27 Atlantic Coast Conference titles. The men's program won national championships in 2001 and 2011. The facilities - training complexes, video analysis rooms, locker rooms - stand comparison with professional clubs in Europe.
The German running student-athlete development
Our tour guide was Tim Kuebel, then UNC's Director of Student-Athlete Development and Operations within the men's soccer program - and a walking example of where this pathway can lead.
Kuebel came through Borussia Dortmund's academy, captained the U19s, and won U19 and U23 championships with the club in 2013 - it was Juergen Klopp who watched him and moved him from striker to right-back. After a season with Schalke 04's second team, he accepted a scholarship at the University of Louisville in 2014. There he was named ACC Freshman of the Year, made All-ACC teams, captained the side for three years, and set a program record with 26 assists - while twice declining Generation Adidas offers to leave early, choosing to finish all four college years instead.
Toronto FC drafted him 28th in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft; he scored his first professional goal for Toronto FC II against New York Red Bulls II. When he decided his future was in coaching and development rather than playing, he completed his UEFA B license back home at VfL Nagold - then returned to the US for a master's degree at UNC and the staff role in which we met him. He has since moved on to doctoral research on youth athlete development at Loughborough University London, in collaboration with Chelsea FC.
Why this matters for a 17-year-old in Europe
Almost nobody starts at a UNC - programs like this recruit at the very top of the market. But the campus is worth seeing because it defines the ceiling of the system you are entering: a university where sport is resourced like a profession and the degree is real. The distance between a first scholarship at a small program and a place like Chapel Hill is exactly the distance the system itself lets ambitious athletes travel - Kuebel covered it in under a decade.
From the Athletes USA archive - first published June 2023
All stories