Preston Popp (born December 8, 1999) is a Canadian soccer player who plays for

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championshi ...

Early life

Born in Montreal, Popp is the son of

Jim Popp James Thomas Popp (born December 21, 1964) is an American sports executive and coach currently working for the United States Football League (USFL) as the Director of Player Administration. He was previously a running back coach and assistant he ...

, who was the general manager of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

team Montreal Allouettes at the time. He began playing youth soccer with CS Dollard, before moving to

Mooresville, North Carolina Mooresville is a large town located in the southwestern section of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and is a part of the fast-growing Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 50,193 at the 2020 United States Census making it ...

at age ten. He played youth soccer with the Charlotte Soccer Academy and

. He then played with the

New York Red Bulls Academy The New York Red Bulls Academy is the multi-layered youth system of the New York Red Bulls. It is the first cost-free program in Major League Soccer that provides a professional soccer training environment for youth players in the New York Tri-St ...

and the

Toronto FC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the Youth system, youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 young players. The senior aca ...

College career

In 2018, he began attending the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...

, where he played for the men's soccer team. He scored his first goal on September 11, 2018, against the

Elon Phoenix The Elon Phoenix is the official mascot of Elon University, located in Elon, North Carolina. It is the name that each of the sports teams at the university are referred to. The university is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association and comp ...

. In his freshman season, he was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team and the Conference USA All-Tournament Team. In his junior season, he was the Co-Golden Boot winner and was named to the Conference USA Second Team, and was also a Second Team Scholar All-American, United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region, and Scholar All-Region. He was also named to the College Sports Information Directors of America All-District III First Team. In his senior season in 2021, he once again won the Conference USA Golden Boot, All-Region honours, and was named to the Conference USA First Team.

Club career

In 2019, he played with

North Carolina FC U23 North Carolina FC U23 is an American soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded in 2002 as the Raleigh Elite, and the current affiliate of North Carolina FC, a third division club in the United Soccer League. The team plays in ...

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

, despite originally being set to join

Reading United AC Reading United AC is an American soccer team based in Reading, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The club plays its home games at Don Thomas Stadium on the campus ...

. He was named to the USL2 Team of the Week, after scoring his first goal on June 7 against Lionsbridge FC, scoring in stoppage time to give his team a 2–1 victory. After not being selected in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft, he signed a contract with

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS clubs ...

side

Rochester New York FC Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos t ...

. On May 1, he joined FC Cincinnati II on a short-term loan for their match against

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well a ...

, as Cincinnati was experiencing a roster shortage. In November 2022, Rochester announced Popp would be departing the club. In December 2022, Popp signed a professional contract with

club

for the 2023 season, re-joining his former youth club.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Popp, Preston 1999 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Canadian men's soccer players Canadian people of American descent Men's association football forwards Toronto FC players Rochester New York FC players Soccer players from Montreal MLS Next Pro players North Carolina FC U23 players USL League Two players New York Red Bulls players Charlotte 49ers men's soccer players North Carolina FC players