Editor’s Note: This feature is the first of a two-part profile series on North Carolina Courage midfielder Brianna Pinto, highlighting her pathway to professional soccer. The second installment will highlight Pinto’s off-field endeavors such as the Pinto Futbol Foundation and work with U.S. Soccer’s Athletes’ Council.
WakeMed Soccer Park, home of the North Carolina Courage, broke ground in 2001. Since then, the park has had many great moments of soccer, ranging from youth to collegiate to professional and international. Brianna Pinto, who grew up just miles away in Durham, has been intertwined with the Cary facility her entire soccer life.
When the North Carolina Courage brought Brianna Pinto home in 2021 in a trade with Gotham FC, it was a full-circle moment. Playing in front of her friends and family, now professionally, on the same fields that raised her. Returning to the backdrop for some of Pinto’s core soccer memories has been an experience she describes as serendipitous.
“Coming home to WakeMed was cool because it was a reminder of all the hours it took to get to the NWSL. If I look at Field 8 from the stadium field, I can remember playing there at eight years old. I’ve literally played on every single field at WakeMed throughout my soccer career,” Pinto said.
When the Courage take on Seattle Reign FC on Saturday, April 27, the club will celebrate NCFC Youth Shield Night, celebrating the Sportsmanship Award recipient from each of NCFC Youth’s teams in front of their teammates, families, and friends. Tickets are available here.
The youth players who fill the stands, perhaps dreaming of one day representing the Courage crest and playing on the stadium field, can see something of themselves in Pinto. She once played on those same side fields they do every weekend and is now scoring SportsCenter Top-10 goals and lifting trophies for her hometown professional club.
Pinto’s journey through the local youth soccer scene stretched across multiple clubs but ended with CASL (now NCFC Youth) at the ECNL level. The rich soccer culture in North Carolina, whether it be youth, high school, college or pro, helped push her own journey forward, because she always had games to watch and players to look up to at every level.
“I got to go to all the local universities to watch college soccer and then I would also watch the RailHawks at the time, and anytime the U.S. Women’s National Team would come to WakeMed, I was able to attend those games. I think when it pertains to North Carolina soccer, I feel like I had every level of support that I needed to fulfill my dreams and I could see someone doing what I wanted to do,” Pinto said.
A recent inductee into Jordan High School’s Athletics Hall of Fame, Pinto was North Carolina Girls Soccer Gatorade Player of the Year for 2014-15 following her only season of high school soccer. Her standout career at the youth and high school levels, as well as an impressive resume with the United States Youth National Team paved the way for her first dream to come true: wearing Carolina blue.
Pinto, the daughter of two former UNC athletes, grew up going to “every sporting event you could imagine” at Carolina and had her sights set on playing for the school since she was just three years old.
“To have that shared experience with my parents has been a blessing. I think one of the cool things about playing so close to home was that my parents were able to, as (UNC head coach) Anson Dorrance quotes, ‘roll out of bed and attend to every single one of my home games,’ which was one of the selling points during my recruiting process,” Pinto said.
Pinto’s father, Hassan, played soccer at UNC and her mother, Meleata, played softball. That family influence and legacy was only part of the puzzle, combined with the school’s academic prowess.
Pinto, who described going to UNC as a blessing, hit the ground running as a freshman, joining the team from the U20 World Cup in France just in time to be a part of history in Dorrance’s 1,000th win as a head coach.
Across her three seasons in Carolina blue, Pinto earned three First Team All-ACC honors. She earned TopDrawer Soccer Freshman Best XI honors, was named a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy and finalist for U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year as a sophomore and was a finalist for the MAC Hermann trophy as a junior.
Pinto scored 31 goals with 19 assists in her 73 games as a Tar Heel, helping one of the most dominant programs in college athletics to an ACC title and three College Cup appearances. WakeMed Soccer Park was the scene for much of Pinto’s college career as the host for ACC Tournaments and the College Cup, with Pinto’s last game as a Tar Heel coming at the stadium against Santa Clara.
“Playing for UNC was such a gift. Obviously, it was really unfortunate like having COVID interrupt so much of college life, but again, just to compete for championships is something that very few can say that they did. We were competing in the best athletic facilities in the country, and I enjoyed every minute of it,” Pinto said.
Pinto’s days on the side field at WakeMed Soccer Park paved the way for her time on the main stage in Carolina blue and now a Courage kit. She’s become one of those stars that youth players can look up to and work to replicate. Her message to those young players is simple: go to games. Whether that is the Courage, NCFC, local colleges or events like the recent friendly between Monterrey and San Luis at WakeMed Soccer Park.
“When we have those games come to our backyard, attend those. Fall in love with the process of what it takes to get to the highest level. We’re lucky to have so many talented players in our environment and, if we can take advantage of that and learn from the people around us, the world is our oyster. I truly used all my resources to my benefit and tried to model my game after so many players that I looked up to and I think without just the network of soccer people, I don’t think I would be where I am today,” Pinto said.
Pinto’s on-field journey is only half the story. Stay tuned for Part Two of the Brianna Pinto profile to learn about the incredible work she’s done off the field. Pinto is a champion for DEI and is making a significant impact in the Triangle and on soccer in America through both her own foundation and through various committees through United States soccer.
