Source Details

{
    "source_type": "extension",
    "content_hash": "71a6c22b558bc43f7a8e60b245379b5e9b9b023ea04f129e9dd32d95217d47eb",
    "submitted_via": "chrome_extension",
    "extension_version": "1.0.18",
    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7622939\/2026\/09\/24\/cavan-sullivan-usmnt-philadelphia-union-family-stories\/?source=athletic_pulsenewsletter&campaign=19911188&userId=16438468",
    "parsed_content": "Illustration: Eamonn Dalton \/ The Athletic; Photos: Sullivan family; Orlando Ramirez \/ Getty ImagesEveryone has a Cavan Sullivan story. Some involve volleys in diapers or \u201coutrageous\u201d tricks, others bicycle kicks on the beach at age 6. The fables used to spread by word of mouth on the parched fields of Northeast Philadelphia. Now they\u2019re sweeping through American soccer as Sullivan, 16, slices through MLS. They paint a portrait of a prodigy propelled by supernatural talent, one who\u2019ll soon grace the U.S. men\u2019s national team.And to some degree, the portrait is accurate.Sullivan could catch a football and strike a soccer ball with either foot at 18 months old.\u201cEighteen months,\u201d repeats his father, Brendan, to emphasize the surreality. \u201cIt was almost like a Spider-Man moment.\u201d\u201cHe couldn\u2019t talk, he could barely walk, but he literally had a ball at his foot,\u201d says Jack ONeill Jr., a family friend who remembers Cavan toddling around the sidelines of his older brother\u2019s games. \u201cHe can\u2019t feed himself, but he\u2019s hitting it with his laces, toe tucked. Like, what the hell is going on?\u201dHe made opposing coaches and observers gawk as he sped through the labyrinth of local soccer. Cloaked in baggy Adidas shorts and oversized shinguards, he won heated games with headers at age 5; diced 8-year-olds at 6; and won international tournaments aged 7. At 10, \u201cthe writing was on the wall,\u201d Brendan says; so Cavan leapt into seventh grade at the Philadelphia Union academy-adjacent school, YSC Academy, and accelerated in order to graduate before soccer took over.This 16-year-old is American soccer\u2019s next great hopeHenry Bushnell and Jeshua KiddAt 14, he signed a pro contract and agreed to eventually join Manchester City. \u201cI want to be the best ever,\u201d he said. But even before that, cameras flocked to him and scouts raved. At 13, he bossed Arsenal\u2019s U15s \u2014 and reprised Alex Morgan\u2019s sipping-tea goal celebration. Then-Union coach Jim Curtin said at the time: \u201cCavan Sullivan has the ability to become, I\u2019ll just say, a household name.\u201dBut not because of an omnipotent left foot. \u201cHe\u2019s not this over-flying supertalent (or) wunderkind,\u201d says Tobias Nubbemeyer, Cavan\u2019s first U-17 coach in Philly. Current and former coaches gush about his burst and his reading of the game, but that isn\u2019t why Cavan was, in the words of Union sporting director Jon Scheer, \u201cthe most dominant youth player I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d\u201cWhat separates the good from the greats is a mentality,\u201d says Tommy Wilson, the former Union academy director. \u201cAnd he has a \u2018f*** you\u2019 mentality \u2014 excuse my French \u2014 that sometimes can be too much for his teammates. But he\u2019s fearless.\u201d\u201cHis outstanding quality,\u201d Union coach Ryan Richter recently said, \u201cis his mentality. He\u2019s not afraid of any moment.\u201dCavan \u2014 who still lives with his parents at a spacious house in Norristown, a Philly suburb \u2014 saw Richter\u2019s quote and asked his mom, Heike, if she agreed.\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d she told him.\u201cThat,\u201d Heike says now, \u201cis his superpower.\u201d It\u2019s a potent blend of confidence, drive, flare and, as ONeill says, \u201cnastiness.\u201dAnd its source, according to just about anyone who knows the Sullivans, is familial.\n The Sullivan brothers with their parents, Heike and Brendan, in an old family photo; Cavan is on the upper rightCourtesy of the Sullivan familyA family\u2019s \u2018way of life\u2019The legend of Cavan, in many ways, begins with the legend of Larry Sullivan, the eldest of nine children reared by a proud Irish Catholic family in a North Philly enclave called Kensington. It was bustling with immigrants from Ireland, Poland, Italy and other soccer-loving countries. The entire family, Brendan Sullivan says, became \u201cinfected by\u201d the sport.Larry primarily played baseball. But after fighting in the Vietnam War and returning with wounded fingers, he dedicated his life to soccer and \u201cgot truly obsessed,\u201d Brendan says. He coached high schools, colleges, select teams, amateur teams and his sons, all with similar tough love. Brendan, one of those sons, remembers \u201cbathing in (soccer) every day.\u201d He went on to play in college, at Columbia then Penn, where he met Heike Krippendorff, a captain of Penn\u2019s women\u2019s team. A few years later, they married \u2014 and kept playing.Brendan had stopped by the time they had their first son, Quinn, but Heike continued into her 30s. After stints on semi-pro teams, she played for the amateur United German Hungarians. Brendan would bring Quinn to her games, meet up with other husbands of players, \u201cand we\u2019re in the stands talking s***, razzing the girls,\u201d he recalls with a chuckle. \u201cAnd the babies are at our feet.\u201dThe babies, of course, were too young to actually watch or listen. \u201cBut,\u201d Brendan says, \u201cthat\u2019s the kind of osmosis that takes place.\u201dAnd that\u2019s the environment into which Cavan was born in 2009, five-and-a-half years after Quinn and two years after twin brothers Declan and Ronan.\n \n \n \n \n Daily Play\n \n \n \n \n Play Connections: Soccer Edition\n \n \n Group soccer terms that share a common thread. A new puzzle is available each day.\n \n \n \n \n \n Heike had stopped playing by then, but the sport, she notes, was ingrained as \u201ca way of life.\u201d Nearly every night after dinner, the four boys would migrate to their cramped living room and knock around a ball. Sometimes Brendan would sit on the floor and toss it to them. In one home video, down in their carpeted basement, Brendan urges a tiny, shirtless Cavan to \u201cexplod(e)\u201d and \u201csnap (at the ball) like a man, hard as you can!\u201d When a smiling Cavan rockets the miniature ball, Brendan booms: \u201cYeahhh! YEAAAHH!\u201dThere were also mini goals, 2-v-2s and free play. There wasn\u2019t much space at or near their modest home in Bridesburg, a mostly-working-class neighborhood in Philly\u2019s River Wards; but there were always cousins or brothers with whom to compete.And when it came time for organized soccer, Brendan explains, \u201cI just recruited dads who I knew would understand the nuttiness of how I would train a team.\u201dBy nuttiness, he means yelling, intensity. The dads, some of whom he\u2019d known since childhood, \u201cwere all on board.\u201d They formed the Lighthouse Brigade, featuring Ronan, Declan, Cavan and lots of winning.Opposing coaches would occasionally ask Brendan, bemused or appalled: \u201cYou allow all your parents to yell at their kids like that during the game?\u201d Brendan would respond: \u201cI expect them to yell at their kids.\u201d\u201cThey were like 6, 7 (years old), to be clear,\u201d Heike interjects.But to Brendan, as long as the parents were avoiding tactics and sticking to \u201cHustle!\u201d or shouting encouragement, \u201cthey\u2019re just teaching \u2019em the basic foundations.\u201d\u201cThis,\u201d he says of the fervor, \u201cis excited, Northeast Philadelphia. You just are kinda born into it, and it\u2019s all you know.\u201d\n A young Cavan Sullivan takes on a defender while playing for youth club in PennsylvaniaCourtesy of the Sullivan familyEventually, the Sullivan boys transitioned to FC Delco, a longtime youth powerhouse. But family remained integral to their development. Cavan, for example, would send Brendan \u201cscrolls and scrolls of videos\u201d from practices or matches, asking Dad to help him analyze certain moments, always hungry for improvement. They would go to empty fields, set up cones, visualize movements and sharpen Cavan\u2019s brain to seek out space in various situations.On one blustery, bitterly-cold Sunday in 2018, everyone at the Union academy was off, so Scheer drove to the academy\u2019s facility in suburban Wayne for a quick workout. He walked past deserted indoor fields, to the gym, no soccer in sight. Then he looked out the window. The gym overlooked a back field, and there, battling a biting wind, were Quinn, Declan, Ronan and 8-year-old Cavan, all dribbling, passing and shooting, honing their technique, guided by Brendan.\u201cYou could see the coaching there, and how much he demanded from them,\u201d Scheer says of Brendan. \u201cI\u2019ll never forget that.\u201dScheer acknowledges that for some young children, the demands could be overbearing; but the Sullivans \u201cjust grew up in this scene where soccer was everything; and being competitive, and trying to win, was second nature.\u201d\u201cSo,\u201d he concludes, \u201cI never had any concerns or doubts. Because when you talk to the kids, they\u2019re just built differently.\u201dEarly signs of stardomWhen did Heike realize that Cavan, specifically, was \u201ca little different\u201d?On a car ride home from a game at age 5 or 6.\u201cEven though people tell you not to do this,\u201d Heike notes, \u201cwe always talked about the game on the ride home.\u201d (\u201cImmediately,\u201d Brendan adds.) And on one memorable trip, Cavan turned to Brendan and said, \u201cHey, Dad, did you see when I did that move in the corner?\u201dCavan went on to explain that he\u2019d seen a Premier League player on TV do the exact same move in the same situation a few weeks earlier, and he\u2019d been thinking about emulating it ever since.\u201cHis mind,\u201d Heike says, \u201cis always going.\u201dMost of the Cavan lore, then and now, centers on visible traits such as touch and quickness, because that\u2019s what the untrained eye can see. It\u2019s what an old Italian guy saw at Beach Blast, a massive sand soccer tournament on the Jersey Shore, when he pointed at young Cavan and exclaimed. It\u2019s what New York Red Bulls youth coaches saw when Cavan, who typically played two years up, went to North Jersey with a Union juniors team in his actual age group circa 2019.In three games that weekend, he allegedly scored more than a dozen goals, and after the umpteenth \u2014 a clever flick over a helpless goalkeeper\u2019s head \u2014 \u201cI remember him jogging back, with his gold chain bouncing around,\u201d says Richter, who coached that juniors team. \u201cAnd the Red Bull coach is like, \u2018Who is this kid?!\u2019\u201d\n Cavan Sullivan and Lionel Messi pose together after a September 2026 MLS match. The two lead the league in goal contributions since the World CupMLS Photos \/ Imagn ImagesIn the Union academy, though, coaches came to admire the less visible traits, the \u201cnuances.\u201d\u201cHe was seeing things (on the field) way before I would see them,\u201d says former Union U-17 coach Peter McDonnell.\u201cHis talent on the ball, and his aggressive nature, and being very ball-oriented, that came out right away,\u201d says Scheer, who spent eight years in the academy before becoming sporting director. \u201cBut I started to take more appreciation for his learning ability and his game understanding and decision making.\u201dSome of it, of course, is innate, but much of it was nurtured. When the Sullivans watched top European soccer on TV, they zeroed in on players from whom the boys could learn. Cavan studied the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Lionel Messi.He also learned to critique himself. He\u2019d trade clips and thoughts with academy coaches. He\u2019d use unrepeatable \u201cPhilly words,\u201d as McDonnell calls them, to review his own mistakes; then he\u2019d vow to correct them.\u201cHe\u2019s got a thirst for information,\u201d Scheer says.And that thirst adds a layer to the prodigy\u2019s portrait. It helps Sullivan unlock his physical gifts. It feeds into the mentality that distinguishes him.\u2018The trick for us was not to blunt the edge\u2019The mentality, a hunger spiked with Northeast Philly edge and fortified by spunky confidence, is evident on any field Cavan touches.It was evident early. Around age 4, ONeill says, he would play like \u201ceveryone is his enemy.\u201d At 8, Richter says, \u201cthe parents of other kids would complain because he was so aggressive.\u201dAnd it stems in part from the Sullivan household. With full-time jobs to work (Heike as a lawyer, Brendan as a teacher) and four boys to corral, \u201cyou had to be cavalier, and let them fight \u2014 until a certain point,\u201d Brendan says. So there were scraps, many scraps; and Cavan, the youngest, learned to stick up for himself.The fight bled onto soccer fields. \u201cHe would square up to opponents that were twice as big as him,\u201d McDonnell says. At one U-17 practice in early December 2023, during an 8-v-8 drill, Cavan and a Union teammate \u201cjust came together like two pieces of metal, sparking, and they grabbed each other by the necks,\u201d McDonnell recalls. (Four days later, they were celebrating goals together.)Coaches, for the most part, loved Cavan\u2019s fire. But there were times when he crossed the proverbial line. He would go at teammates with the same directness that his dad normalized, and \u201csometimes, yes, he made destructive comments,\u201d Nubbemeyer says. Coaches instructed him to mix in praise with the rebukes and demands, and Cavan took their advice in stride.They were careful, though, not to tame his inner dog.They\u2019d \u201cgive him a little bit longer of a leash at times,\u201d Scheer says, \u201cbecause he is different.\u201d\u201cThe trick for us,\u201d Wilson says, \u201cwas not to blunt the edge, but just to put guardrails in, so that he could play with freedom (but avoid red cards).\u201dThe same delicate balance applies to his audacity on the ball, which could break open games but also irk teammates when leading to turnovers.It also applies to his aura, to all the attention he attracts. When he says he could\u2019ve helped the USMNT against Belgium, or when he scripts a LeBron James chalk-toss celebration, or when he posts his own highlights on Instagram, some see arrogance or self-importance; others see confidence.\u201cAnd you don\u2019t want to stymie that,\u201d says Tom Heinemann, who coached Cavan with the U.S. U-15 national team. \u201cBecause that\u2019s also what makes him special.\u201d\n \n \n \n \n What You Should Read Next\n \n \n \n \n He called Cavan Sullivan to the USMNT. Now Mauricio Pochettino must manage the hype\n \n \n The 16-year-old is taking MLS by storm, and with that comes the familiar cycle of grand declarations and increased attention\n \n \n \n \n \n It\u2019s a self-belief, the type that doesn\u2019t waver when he loses five 1-v-1s in a row. He demands the ball again \u2014 and again and again, until he beats his defender.\u201cA bad moment, to him, isn\u2019t one he loses confidence from for a month,\u201d Richter says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t happen. He fights through it.\u201dEarlier this season, when stuck on the Union bench, he did get frustrated. \u201cIt was a very tough time for him \u2014 a really tough time for him,\u201d Heike says. But did it dent his confidence? \u201cNo,\u201d Brendan says without hesitation. \u201cHe was more angry at the situation.\u201dSo he worked, and worked, and learned what both parents call \u201can important lesson.\u201d When opportunity finally knocked \u2014 when Richter stepped in for the fired Bradley Carnell and told Cavan: \u201cLet\u2019s go. You get your chance now. Take it.\u201d \u2014 Cavan smiled and seized it. Since August, with six goals and eight assists, he has been the single most prolific attacker in MLS (ahead of Messi), a creative force, a grown version of the phenom that wowed Northeast Philly.And he\u2019s making good on his parents\u2019 core command.\u201cWe\u2019ve always approached our kids with: you\u2019ve gotta do the best you can do,\u201d Heike says.\u201cYou were given gifts,\u201d Brendan explains. \u201cOur only job, as parents, is to make sure you don\u2019t waste those. The expectation is you\u2019ll maximize that, whatever you do, whether it\u2019s the cello or math class\u201d \u2014 or soccer.\n The Sullivan brothers \u2014 Cavan, Quinn, Ronan and Declan \u2014 through the yearsPhotos courtesy of the Sullivan familyBrotherly loveAfter two decades of \u201corganized chaos,\u201d the Sullivan nest is empty this week. Quinn, the Union\u2019s 2025 player of the year at age 21, recently moved out. The twins are freshmen at St. Joseph\u2019s University in Philly. And Cavan is in Fayetteville, Ga., at his first USMNT camp, as the face of the program\u2019s \u201cfresh start.\u201dThey are, as Heike says, \u201cat all different levels\u201d of soccer. And they might someday be in four different locations. But \u201cthe brothers have a bond,\u201d as Brendan says, that probably won\u2019t ever be broken \u2014 and that forged their soccer talent as much as soccer forged it.It formed first in the Bridesburg basement and at fields throughout greater Philadelphia.It strengthened on road trips with FC Delco, and later at YSC Academy, the Union-affiliated private school where Brendan teaches and all four brothers learned.It crystallized in Ocean City, N.J., where the family spent chunks of each July, the one place \u201cwhere soccer is not the primary focus,\u201d Brendan says.They\u2019d still train every day on those long weekends down the shore, often for multiple hours, the parents clarify. But, free from the rigors and pressures of school and their clubs, \u201csummers at the shore were a moment to be kids,\u201d Heike says.The boys would cram into a single room, sleeping four across a queen bed when they were young. Quinn would venture out with friends and let his brothers tag along \u2014 even \u201cwhen they were little dorks,\u201d Brendan says. The twins and Cavan, Brendan adds, came to see Quinn as something of a \u201cbig brother dad.\u201d Both parents agree: Quinn was the \u201cperfect first child.\u201dBut, of course, he was also a competitor.When the family moved to Norristown, competition overtook their new backyard. They got a Teqball table, as a gift, to go with a full-size goal and other contraptions. The boys would play 2-v-2 in their boots, so often during COVID-19 lockdowns that they chewed green grass into brown dirt.Nowadays, the grass is green again. When Cavan leaves the Union facility and returns home for the day, there are no brothers with whom to play. High school is done; online college hasn\u2019t yet started. \u201cHe\u2019s probably bored,\u201d Brendan says \u2014 though he does have Mom, Dad and two Great Danes.And a ball.Naturally, soccer still fills some voids.A couple weeks ago, Cavan and Brendan were playing in the house and broke something.Heike snapped: \u201cEnough with the ball!\u201d But Cavan recalled a fruitful promise.\u201cMom,\u201d he reminded her, \u201cyou said that you\u2019d never yell at us for playing with the ball in the house.\u201dAnd he was right. \u201cShe,\u201d Brendan says of Heike, \u201cgot busted.\u201d\nHenry Bushnell is a senior writer for The Athletic covering soccer. He previously covered a variety of sports and events, including World Cups and Olympics, for Yahoo Sports. He is based in Washington, D.C.Follow Sep 25, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports termsPlay today's puzzleWhat did you think of this story?MEHSOLIDAWESOME",
    "published_at": "2026-09-25T13:23:58+00:00",
    "author_name": "Henry Bushnell, Jeshua Kidd",
    "site_name": "The Athletic",
    "section": null,
    "publisher": "The New York Times Company",
    "ai_headline": "Everyone has a Cavan Sullivan story. Some involve volleys in diapers or \u201coutrageous\u201d tricks, others bicycle kicks on the beach at age 6. The fables used to spread by word of mouth on the parched fields of Northeast Philadelphia. Now they\u2019re sweeping through American soccer as Sullivan, 16, slices through MLS. They paint a portrait of a prodigy propelled by supernatural talent, one who\u2019ll soon grace the U.S. men\u2019s national team.",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Cavan Sullivan's Prodigy Story Unfolds in American Soccer",
    "ai_excerpt": "Illustration Eamonn Dalton The Athletic Photos Sullivan family Orlando Ramirez Getty ImagesEveryone has a Cavan Sullivan story Some involve volleys in diapers or outrageous tricks others bicycle ki...",
    "ai_subject_tags": [
        "Cavan Sullivan",
        "Soccer",
        "Youth Soccer",
        "Philadelphia Union",
        "USMNT",
        "Prodigy",
        "Sports Biography",
        "Family Influence",
        "Soccer Development",
        "Athlete Profile"
    ],
    "ai_context_type": "Analysis",
    "ai_context_details": {
        "tone": "informative",
        "perspective": "neutral",
        "audience": "general",
        "credibility_indicators": {
            "0": "expert_quotes",
            "1": "personal_anecdotes",
            "3": "anecdotal_evidence",
            "6": "expert_author"
        }
    },
    "ai_source_vector": null,
    "ai_confidence_score": 0.9749999999999999,
    "ai_extraction_metadata": {
        "extracted_at": "2026-09-25T20:00:53.236340Z",
        "ai_model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
        "extraction_method": "automated",
        "content_length": 6024,
        "metadata_prompt_body_chars": 6024,
        "metadata_prompt_truncated": false,
        "url": "https:\/\/nytimes.com\/athletic\/7622939\/2026\/09\/24\/cavan-sullivan-usmnt-philadelphia-union-family-stories",
        "existing_metadata": {
            "author_name": null,
            "published_at": null,
            "domain_name": "nytimes.com",
            "site_name": null,
            "section": null,
            "publisher": null
        },
        "openai_refusal_gemini_fallback": false,
        "chunking_used": true,
        "total_chunks": 4,
        "chunk_merge_method": "comprehensive",
        "merged_at": "2026-09-25T20:01:01.465309Z"
    }
}

{
    "extracted_at": "2026-09-25T20:00:53.236340Z",
    "ai_model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
    "extraction_method": "automated",
    "content_length": 6024,
    "metadata_prompt_body_chars": 6024,
    "metadata_prompt_truncated": false,
    "url": "https:\/\/nytimes.com\/athletic\/7622939\/2026\/09\/24\/cavan-sullivan-usmnt-philadelphia-union-family-stories",
    "existing_metadata": {
        "author_name": null,
        "published_at": null,
        "domain_name": "nytimes.com",
        "site_name": null,
        "section": null,
        "publisher": null
    },
    "openai_refusal_gemini_fallback": false,
    "chunking_used": true,
    "total_chunks": 4,
    "chunk_merge_method": "comprehensive",
    "merged_at": "2026-09-25T20:01:01.465309Z"
}