Chase Michael Hilgenbrinck (born April 2, 1982) is an American retired

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a defender. He is notable for terminating his professional career to become a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

Early life

His parents, Mike (a regional sales manager for a fertilizer dealership) and Kim (an accountant with State Farm Insurance), raised their children as Catholics. They brought him and his older brother, Blaise, to church every Sunday, where both sons served as altar boys at Holy Trinity Church in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

. Chase played soccer for

University High School University High School may refer to: Australia * University High School, Melbourne, Victoria Canada * University Hill Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia United States Arizona * University High School (Tolleson) * University High Sc ...

Normal, Illinois Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal cities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and is I ...

Soccer career

Hilgenbrinck made the United States Under-17 national team, before moving on to play for

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

, where he was a three-year starter, playing on the same defensive line as future U.S. senior national team fixture

Oguchi Onyewu Oguchialu Chijioke Onyewu (born May 13, 1982) is an American former association football, soccer player who is the Vice President of Sporting for the United States Soccer Federation. He was previously the sporting director for Orlando City B an ...

. After graduating in 2004, Chase was undrafted by

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

(MLS) after a decent college career. Claudio Arias, the Chilean soccer coach at nearby

Southern Wesleyan University Southern Wesleyan University is a Private university, private Christian university in Central, South Carolina, United States. It was founded in 1906 by what is now the Wesleyan Church. The institution is Higher education accreditation in the Unit ...

, suggested going to Chile where he thought he could help Chase get a contract. Hilgenbrinck signed with

Huachipato Huachipato FC is a Chilean football club based in Talcahuano that currently plays in the Chilean Primera División. Huachipato was founded on 7 June 1947 by workers of the homonymous steel mill in Talcahuano, and it currently plays its home g ...

of Chile's top division, but was loaned out to lower division club

Deportes Naval Club de Deportes Naval de Talcahuano is a Chilean football club, their home town is Talcahuano, Biobío Region. They currently play at the fifth level of Chilean football, Tercera B of Chile. The club were founded on August 27, 1972 as ''Clu ...

. He eventually moved on to second-division club

Ñublense Club Deportivo Ñublense () is a professional Association football, football team based in Chillán, Ñuble Region, Chile. The club was formed in 1916 under the name of Liceo Fútbol Club. They compete in Chile's Chilean Primera División, Primer ...

and helped them to achieve promotion to Chile's top flight. In all, he spent four seasons in Chile, with three clubs, and grew to become a star player. He joined the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

in early 2008, but was waived during the pre-season without making a senior appearance after the Rapids needed to clear salary cap space for other acquisitions. Two weeks later the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

called, and after a two-day tryout, the Revolution signed him on March 28. Hilgenbrinck's last game was on a Sunday, July 13, 2008, at

Gillette Stadium Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States. The stadium is southwest of Downtown Boston and 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Providence, Rhode Island. It serves as the home stadium and admi ...

in Foxborough, Massachusetts when the New England Revolution faced Mexican club Santos Laguna in a SuperLiga game.

Catholic priest

In the summer of 2007, the vocation director for the Catholic Diocese of

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

, sent him an extensive application packet. He had to write a 20-page autobiography and submit responses to a series of essay questions. In December, the day after he returned to the U.S. following the end of the soccer season in Chile, he went through an entire battery of testing. Hilgenbrinck retired from soccer on July 14, 2008, to enter Mount St. Mary's

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

Mount St. Mary's University Mount St. Mary's University is a private Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland, United States. It has the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. Undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Liberal Arts, the Richar ...

Emmitsburg, Maryland Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Founded in 1785, Emmitsburg is the home of Mount St. Mary's University. The town has two Catholic pilgrim ...

in order to become a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. He was ordained in the diocese of Peoria on May 24, 2014. He served as a

parochial vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

for St. Anne's Catholic Church in

East Moline, Illinois East Moline is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,374 at the 2020 census. East Moline is one of the Quad Cities at the confluence of the Rock and Mississippi rivers, along with neighboring Moline and ...

, as well as one of the chaplains at Alleman High School in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

. On June 8, 2016, Hilgenbrinck was assigned to St. John's Catholic Newman Center in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in ...

. In 2020, Hilgenbrinck was appointed vocation director for the Diocese of Peoria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilgenbrinck, Chase Living people 1982 births American Roman Catholic priests Catholics from Illinois American men's soccer players Soccer players from Illinois Sportspeople from Quincy, Illinois Men's association football defenders Clemson Tigers men's soccer players Huachipato FC footballers Ñublense footballers Colorado Rapids players New England Revolution players Major League Soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Chile American expatriate sportspeople in Chile