Tam senior and boys’ soccer captain Noah Pedersen verbally committed to continue his academic and athletic career at Chapman University on Sept. 11. Pedersen, a midfielder, joins senior goalie Sam Clark as the second Tam player to commit to play college-level soccer this school year.
“I’m fired up. He’s going to kick ass at Chapman,” girls’ senior soccer captain Marissa Scanlan said.
Pedersen’s passion for the sport began at a young age. His father, Esben Pedersen, a former semi-professional player in Denmark, introduced him to soccer at the age of three. Once the ball dribbled off his foot for the first time, he never looked back.
Noah Pedersen spent nine years playing for Central Marin Soccer Club, progressing his game to an elite level.
From there, he joined Marin Football Club (Marin FC), elevating his competition to the highest level. Marin FC is part of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) circuit which comprises some of the best talent around the country.
“The skillsets and the training that the kids get today is so advanced,” Esben Pedersen said.
It has not always been smooth sailing, though. At 13 years old, Noah Pedersen sustained a knee injury called Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD). OCD, according to the Boston Children’s Hospital, is a “joint disorder in which a segment of the bone and cartilage start to separate from the rest of the bone after repeated stress or trauma.” The injury brought Noah Pedersen’s soccer career to a halt, requiring surgery and sidelining him for two years.
“Soccer is my life so it was really hard for me to have to sit out for that long,” Noah Pedersen said.
Nonetheless, it didn’t take long for Noah Pedersen to return to the top of his game. After a short stint on Tam’s junior varsity (JV) soccer team, he was promoted to the varsity squad his sophomore year. That year, the team made it all the way to the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) Finals.
“It makes you want to win so bad when you’re playing for your high school team,” Noah Pedersen said. “The team is such a tight knit community.”
Although Noah Pedersen’s junior year resulted in missing the MCAL playoffs and an early exit in the North Coast Section (NCS) playoffs, it was his club season that turned heads. Noah Pedersen’s performance was outstanding and he was named to the ECNL National Selection game in Texas during April, 2024. According to the ECNL official website, the game consists of the “top players at each regular season ECNL National Event,” from around the country.
“There were so many people there. It was just a sick experience,” Noah Pedersen said. “That’s probably my favorite memory of playing soccer.”
Despite the game having 50 divisions, three coaches, and 19 division one coaches in attendance, Noah Pedersen decided to stick with Chapman who had offered him a spot on the team a month earlier.
“Playing time was a huge factor for me,” Noah Pedersen said. “I felt Chapman was going to give me the opportunity to play a lot while still being in a competitive league.”
Before he can begin this new chapter as a collegiate player, Noah Pedersen has one final year of Tam soccer. While Pedersen’s eyes are on the prize of the MCAL title, he has one more specific goal in mind.
“We have to beat Redwood this year,” Noah Pedersen said. “That is my biggest goal.”
