Bradenton native Spencer Moeller is a long way from his early days of playing indoor soccer at The Center of Anna Maria Island. Now the 26-year-old is playing soccer professionally with the Los Angeles Force.
Taking a few moments to speak with The Sun about his career, Moeller said he credits his time at The Center as the reason he keeps playing soccer. Evolving from his time playing locally at the YMCA, G.T. Bray and IMG Academy, Moeller’s not just passionate about playing soccer, it’s what he’s worked for his entire life.
While playing soccer throughout his school-age years, Moeller said he dreamed of playing professionally. Those plans were slightly derailed when he broke his arm, pushing him toward college soccer instead of the professional leagues.
After playing his freshman year in Memphis, he transferred to a school in New Jersey where he played for a year and a half before getting injured in 2015 and cut in the spring of 2016. Due to league rules, Moeller said he had to sit out for a year before transferring to a Kentucky school, Lindsey Wilson College, where he played for two seasons and graduated in May of 2018. After college, Moeller traveled to Europe to play with international teams before returning to the United States and being signed by the Force in August 2020, a feat he said is basically unheard of at age 26; he said most players are signed to professional teams for the first time in their late teens or early 20s.
While he was working toward playing in professional soccer, Moeller was also spending time working on another project – sharing his story online with other soccer hopefuls.
Moeller started a video blog in 2007 that he uses to help other soccer players see the reality behind the dream. His more than 34,000 followers have watched him grow up in the game, suffer injuries, recover, get past stumbling blocks and more, all while he continues to portray a positive message of continuing to fight for your dreams.
“My story is about persistence and refusing to be denied,” he said.
For him, Moeller said the pressure to succeed in the sport is a lot higher and he wants to give back by helping younger players create a plan of action and not give up on their dreams due to a setback, excuses or being told “no.”
“I thrive on pressure,” he said. “I thrive when people are against me.”
In addition to the YouTube channel where he shares his personal journey, Moeller also has a website where he shares training videos for soccer players. All of his content is provided for free because he said the point is to give back and help others, not to monetize his experience.
Right now, Moeller is living his dream, despite COVID-19 precautions slowing the team’s game schedule and preventing fans from being in the stadium. In the next phase of his life, he said he envisions several different opportunities, but one that he’d like to see become reality is a professional soccer team for his hometown of Bradenton.
“I just want to be able to give back and help kids get into the game,” he said.
To follow along with Moeller’s life and career, follow him online at his website and on his YouTube channel.
