OKLAHOMA CITY – A mainstay for the Mid-America Christian men’s soccer center-back position, Simon Wieschemann was a record-setter for the Evangels, playing more minutes at MACU than any other player in program history.
Over the course of his five-year Evangels career, the Frankfurt, Germany native is the only player in program history to log more than 6500 minutes (6505) and is also the only player to ever record more than 2000 minutes in a season at 2047 in 2019, helping lead MACU to its first ever NCCAA National Championship.
The team captain was not only responsible for helping lead MACU to its first national title but also guided the Evangels to three NAIA Tournament appearances, three SAC Tournament titles, and the program’s first SAC regular season title in 2021.
“In my time playing at MACU, there is no one season that stands out,” stated Wieschemann while reflecting on his time playing with the Evangels. “If there’s anything that I take a lot of pride in is how far the program has come since I started playing there in 2017. I am incredibly proud at how MACU reached No. 1 in the NAIA and has become a national power. I’m overjoyed at where MACU is today and that I was a part of its growth to prominence.”
While Wieschemann had his feet firmly planted in MACU’s backfield as a defender, “planted” would be the noun that would least describe what his future had in store for him.
During his time in the United States, Wieschemann got the opportunity to start an interesting hobby that had always piqued his interest…skydiving. During the summer of 2020, Wieschemann made his first tandem jump and since that dive, he has since performed more than 60 solo skydives over the last four years.
“It was something that I had wanted to try since I was young,” Wieschemann remarked. “I always told myself when I was a kid that when I turn 18, I’ll try skydiving. I’ve always been an adventurous type, but unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to do it until I’d been in the U.S. for a few years.”
After completing his collegiate playing career in the fall of 2021, and having coached part-time at the High School and Club level for some years, Wieschemann’s full-time coaching career started with a bang. In the spring of 2022, Wieschemann became the assistant coach for the Norman North Boys’ Soccer team. During his lone season with the Timberwolves NNHS went 14-6-1 and made it all the way to win the 6A Oklahoma State Championship.
In June of 2022, Wieschemann was offered a very unique career opportunity as he was offered to be the Boys’ Soccer Director for Life Sports Club, a brand new youth academy in Cairo, Egypt.
“Life Sports Club was trying to develop an International base toward their establishment, so they hired WellSpring Sports, who already had a corner on the International marked to hire their coaches and directors,” Wieschemann explained when reflecting on how he ended up with the organization. “I found out about the opportunity when WellSpring reached out to me after getting a referral from my former summer league coach at Torch FC. They put me through an interview process and after a three-week process, I was offered the position there.”
Life Sports Club is an organization serving children and young adults 19 years old and under, and in his role with the organization, not only did Wieschemann mentor youth boys soccer, but was also involved in developing a methodology and marketing plan for Life Sports Club as well.
Also during his time in Egypt, Wieschemann competed as a reserve player for a pair of clubs in the Egyptian Second Division.
After leaving Egypt at the end of 2022, Wieschemann found another career opportunity across the Mediterranean Sea as he ended up in Valencia, Spain to work as an intern for Eture Sports, a professional soccer players’ agency in January 2023. In this agency, Wieschemann was tasked with coaching developmental club players from professional soccer teams while also helping to handle contract negotiations between the players and the clubs.
The agency also helped with the recruiting of American-based soccer players to enter the European club scene for a year before re-entering the collegiate level in the United States.
“Interestingly enough, I found out about Eture Sports from my former teammate at MACU, Hector Valles,” said Wieschemann. He knew one of the higher-ups at Eture and was able to get me connected with their company. They weren’t exactly hiring any full-time employees, but they saw how much experience I had playing in the United States and the American market is very appealing to them. They felt like I had a valuable experience that I could bring to their company.”
During the summer of 2023, Wieschemann made his return to the U.S. to serve as the Head Coach for his former summer league team, the Torch Sports Ministry Football Club which competes in the National Premiere Soccer League (NPSL) out of Perkasie, Pennsylvania.
Following his season with Torch FC, Wieschemann made his return to the college game where he got his start, this time serving as the Graduate Assistant Coach for NCAA Division II Dallas Baptist. In his first season with the Patriots, Wieschemann helped guide DBU to the first Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship game in program history.
As Wieschemann pursues the desire to coach at the collegiate level, he reminisced about how much his faith in God had led him through his incredible journey over the last decade.
“God has opened up incredible doors in my life to use the talents that he has given me on different stages all over the world,” said Wieschemann. “I couldn’t be more grateful for those opportunities, but ultimately also know that there are much bigger questions that every person needs to ask themselves. I am especially grateful for how much God has done for me from an eternal perspective. The Bible says that no matter how hard we try; we humans will never be able to live the life that would make us worthy of spending eternity with God. I will never hold anything closer to my heart than what Jesus has done for me, paving a way to God's presence by taking my sins to the cross and conquering the death that I deserve on my behalf.”