In mid-November, we caught up with Karlin Wurlitzer, who coached her Leahi ‘12G Premier Green (HI) team to a 13U National Presidents Cup title this summer. Ten years earlier, Wurlitzer was being crowned at the 2015 National Presidents Cup as a Leahi player.

Here she talks about her unique journey – including a look back on some of her favorite memories, the challenges of being from Hawaii, and what she hopes to accomplish next.

Note: the following has been edited for clarity.

Ten years ago, you won the 15U Girls National Presidents Cup with your Leahi 2000 Premier (HI) team. How special was that experience for you back then?

Funnily enough, a few days after we returned from Florida (this year), one of our 2000’s team parents sent out an email commemorating the ten-year anniversary of our win with an old highlights video. So, we all got to take a little trip down memory lane. I still remember being there and thinking it was all some magical dream that I was eventually going to wake up from. Turns out, ten years later, I still haven’t woken up!

Outside of winning, were there any memorable moments during that trip to Overland Park, KS?

The BARBECUE! AMAZING!

The other memorable bit was the player meet-and-greet. I still remember (and have) all the cool stuff we traded, and it was so fun to be able to meet so many people from across the country. In fact, it was so impactful that it was a major selling point to get our team to commit to National Presidents Cup this year. When we learned we had advanced to Tampa, a lot of our families wanted to know if it was worth it to drop everything for a trip across the country (it was hard enough getting them to Idaho for the regional tournament). But I knew that the opening ceremony alone was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we just couldn’t pass up. Thankfully, they believed me, and here we are! 

Fast forward to now – after you led the next generation of Leahi Soccer Club athletes to a National Presidents Cup title. How important was it for you to be able to give that type of experience to your team after having it yourself?

When I learned we had the opportunity to go back to this tournament series, it became my singular goal to get us there – to the point that I might’ve scared a couple of our parents with my insistence!

As a player, your love for soccer is defined by a few key moments throughout your career, and for me this was one of them. I’d bet anything that now it’s one for these girls, too.

And I’m not just talking about the winning (although that was great, I can’t lie). It was the whole atmosphere, the fight, the camaraderie and rivalry, being surrounded by strangers united by one common goal. There’s truly nothing like it.

For players in Hawaii, how important are the opportunities available to them through US Youth Soccer competitions?

In the ever-changing world of youth soccer, the USYS system has been a constant for all of our players, and we can’t thank everyone who makes these things happen enough. Our players work all year just to be able to represent their team on a stage like this one. As coaches and adults, you look back at your time as an athlete and realize what valuable lessons you’ve learned along the way… hard work and being a team player and communication and all that… but when you’re a kid, you just want to play. For these girls, it’s the whole point. That’s what USYS gives us.

What are some challenges as a player (and now coach) in Hawaii that people in other states may not face – and how do you overcome them?

Two come to mind. One is the isolation: the nearest state is a five-and-a-half hour plane trip away, which is not exactly something you can do every weekend. The other is the related issue of only playing teams within a 20-mile radius all year long, which gets old pretty quickly, as you can imagine. When it comes to dealing with that second bit, I think back to what my college coach once told us: your toughest challenges should come during practice. If we can create an environment where our players are pushed to their limits every day, and the hardest opponents they face are themselves, then the games become the easy part. If we’re successful in practice, then our isolation becomes a strength: every time we get the opportunity to travel for games, it is a special moment, and we make it a point to play like it.

…And of course, I would be remiss to not acknowledge the rockstar parents that actually make it happen. From fundraising to planning trips to managing vans full of hungry teenagers – for every successful player to come out of the state of Hawai’i, there are years and years of tireless sacrifices by their parents.

What lessons were you able to take away during your time as a player to help you become such a successful coach?

I was blessed with amazing coaches throughout my youth and collegiate years. Actually, my first – and arguably most influential – coach was my mom, and she is now my assistant coach for our team that won this year! How-full circle is that! But anyway, I was able to shape the way that I coach based on what my mom and all my other coaches taught me. I took what worked, tweaked what didn’t, and took quite a few creative liberties along the way. I am far from perfect, and I’m still learning a lot about myself, but that’s the beauty of soccer: each generation passes down a little bit more to the next, and the game keeps changing for the better.

You had a great career at Idaho State from 2018-2022. How did competing at US Youth Soccer events help prepare you for that next level?

I’m pretty sure 90-95% of that National Presidents Cup winning team from 2015 went on to play collegiate soccer (maybe 50% at the Division I level). I’m sure there were quite a few on the runner-up team from Illinois (Eclipse Elite) as well – unrelated, but I think their keeper had a pretty stellar career at Xavier if I recall correctly. But anyway, I mentioned earlier that this tournament series felt like a dream that I hadn’t woken up from yet.

When you’re a kid, especially a kid from Hawai’i, winning championships and competing at a national level feels like some far-off thing that only happens in movies and on TV.

I think that more than anything, these USYS events give players like us an opportunity to turn those dreams into reality, and that instills this real sense of belief in yourself and your abilities. The collegiate level is a whole different world from youth soccer. My first college practice? Whew! Talk about shell shock. But the belief that that world was within my reach – cemented by the fact that I’d already done what I once thought was impossible – carried me a long way.

Do you have any favorite memories from your time as a Bengal?

Every single day. Even the ones that sucked. Is this a cop-out answer? Yeah, probably, but I’m 100% serious. College soccer is such an amazing experience that I was so, so lucky to have for so long.

Lastly, you’re currently a student at the University of Hawaii. What are you studying and what are your future career aspirations?

I am currently working towards my Masters’ Degree in Cell and Molecular Biology, and I one day hope to go to medical school. Soccer will always be a huge part of my life, and I’d love to be able to work with athletes and help them play as long as they can.