BANGOR, Maine — Carson Atherley’s passion for soccer was by no means immediate, even in a household where his father is a longtime college coach.
Since changing athletic allegiances at age 10, he has developed into one of the state’s top midfielders — a status that will enable Atherley to play collegiately beginning next year at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
“Soccer used to be my least favorite sport growing up,” Atherley said Monday after returning from a weekend on the Ivy League campus with six other recruits who have verbally committed to play for the Bears in 2017.
“I actually played tackle football for a few years before I started playing soccer at age 10, and when I was 12, I started playing club soccer and getting into it more competitively, and it really took off for me from there.”
The 5-foot-11, 160-pound Atherley, who was contacted by several other NCAA Division I soccer programs in the Northeast as well as Division II and III colleges, said the NCAA official visit to the Brown campus solidified feelings he has held about the school since earlier in the recruiting process.
“They were the first school to reach out to me about playing soccer there,” he said. “Obviously I want to go to a school that wants me to play for them, and when I had a chance to visit, the people there were genuine and down to earth and kind.
“Obviously they have a fantastic soccer program and academically it’s a world-class school, so all the puzzle pieces seemed to fit,” he added.
Athlerley plans to major in business and economics through the university’s Business, Economics and Organizations Concentration.
“I think the whole Ivy League experience really sets me up for success in the future,” he said.
Brown is coached by Pat Laughlin, a 1992 graduate of the University of Maine who played soccer for the Black Bears and captained the team as a senior.
Atherley’s father, Scott Atherley, was an assistant coach for those teams who became the men’s soccer head coach at UMaine for seven seasons beginning in 1993. He is amidst a 17-year stint as the women’s soccer head coach.
Laughlin returned to his alma mater in 2007 as head coach of the UMaine men’s soccer team until the program was suspended in April 2009. He is in his seventh year at Brown, which is 59-30-21 overall with three NCAA tournament appearances during his tenure.
“I was actually introduced to coach Laughlin when I was 8 years old and still playing tackle football,” said Carson Atherley. “Ironically, it was eight years later he started recruiting me to play soccer at Brown University.”
Atherley is a four-year starter at Bangor who has helped the Rams advance to the Class A North semifinals each of the last three seasons and compile an overall record of 35-12-4 entering Tuesday’s match at Hampden Academy.
He has excelled with the Seacoast United Mariners, a Topsham-based club team that in 2015 advanced to the National Premier Leagues championship tournament. That team is coached by his father, along with Martyn Keen and Steve Twombley.
“This has really been Carson’s journey, he’s been the guy driving the train,” said Scott Atherley, “and from my perspective, when you looked at all the things he was looking for in a potential [college] experience, at the end of the day, it was a pretty easy decision. When you consider the opportunity he has, it’s pretty hard to find a better one out there.”
Carson Atherley sees his role on the field at the Division I level as more facilitator than finisher.
“I’m more of a holding midfielder, more of a defensive-minded midfielder,” he said. “My job is basically to connect passes, to move the ball around the field and to not lose it. I’m not the guy who scores, I’m the guy who sets it up.”
